Chewy, Inc. (CHWY) Max Pain Analysis
Max pain is the strike price where aggregate option buyer payout is minimized at expiration. It represents the price at which option writers retain the most premium.
Chewy, Inc. (CHWY) operates in the Consumer Cyclical sector, specifically the Specialty Retail industry, with a market capitalization near $8.97B, listed on NYSE, employing roughly 18,000 people, carrying a beta of 1.50 to the broader market. Chewy, Inc. Led by Ryan Cohen, public since 2019-06-14.
Snapshot as of May 15, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $21.36
- Max Pain Strike
- $25.00
- Total OI
- 218.0K
As of May 15, 2026, Chewy, Inc. (CHWY) max pain sits at $25.00, which is above the current spot price of $21.36 (17.0% away). Spot sits 17.0% above max pain - the gap is wide enough that the pinning effect alone is unlikely to close it; expect catalyst flow, positioning unwinds, or rebalancing to drive the actual price path before any expiration pull. CHWY is a low-priced underlying (spot $21.36), where $0.50 or finer strike spacing increases the number of viable pin candidates and dampens the dominant-strike effect. Total open interest across the listed chain (218.0K contracts) is healthy but not dominant; pinning effects can show but are not guaranteed. CHWY is currently in negative dealer gamma (-$66.4K), a regime that amplifies directional moves rather than damping them, weakening the pin-toward-max-pain bias. Max pain identifies the strike at which the aggregate dollar value of all outstanding options contracts would expire with the least total intrinsic value, a gravitational reference rather than a price target.
CHWY Strategy Implications at the Current Max Pain Level
With spot 17.0% from the $25.00 max-pain level and Chewy, Inc. in a negative-gamma regime, where dealer hedging amplifies directional moves and weakens any pin, strategy selection turns on cycle position and dealer positioning. Iron condors and credit spreads centered near the max-pain strike capture the typical end-of-cycle convergence when the regime supports pinning; ratio backspreads or directional debit structures fit names where catalyst flow is likely to overwhelm the hedging-driven pull. The gamma-exposure page shows the per-strike dealer book that determines whether hedging will reinforce or fight the pin.
Learn how max pain is reported and how to read the data →
CHWY highest open-interest contracts
| Type | Strike | Expiration | Volume | OI | IV | Bid | Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PUT | $12.50 | Jan 15, 2027 | 4.0K | 104 | 67.8% | $0.65 | $0.77 |
| PUT | $12.50 | Jan 15, 2027 | 4.0K | 104 | 67.8% | $0.65 | $0.77 |
| PUT | $12.50 | Nov 20, 2026 | 598 | 121 | 68.1% | $0.46 | $0.55 |
| CALL | $30.00 | Jan 21, 2028 | 699 | 144 | 55.5% | $4.00 | $4.35 |
| PUT | $19.00 | May 22, 2026 | 430 | 119 | 51.5% | $0.02 | $0.04 |
| CALL | $22.00 | May 22, 2026 | 1.3K | 461 | 54.3% | $0.31 | $0.48 |
| CALL | $22.50 | Jan 21, 2028 | 463 | 188 | 57.7% | $6.35 | $6.70 |
| CALL | $22.00 | May 22, 2026 | 1.3K | 461 | 54.3% | $0.31 | $0.48 |
Top 8 contracts from the ORATS-sourced nightly scan; ranked by oi within the broader S&P 500/400/600 + ETF universe.
Frequently asked CHWY max pain analysis questions
- What is the current CHWY max pain strike?
- As of May 15, 2026, Chewy, Inc. (CHWY) max pain sits at $25.00, which is 17.0% above the current spot price of $21.36. Max pain identifies the strike at which aggregate option-buyer payouts at expiration are minimized; it is a gravitational reference, not a price target. A 17.0% gap is wide enough that the pinning effect alone is unlikely to close it; expect catalyst flow, positioning unwinds, or rebalancing to drive the price path before any expiration pull.
- Does CHWY pin to its max pain strike at expiration?
- CHWY is currently in negative dealer gamma, a regime that amplifies directional moves rather than damping them. The pin-toward-max-pain bias weakens here because dealer hedging adds momentum rather than mean reversion. Total open interest across CHWY (218.0K contracts) is one input to how plausible a clean pin is - heavier total OI concentrated at fewer strikes raises the probability; thin OI spread across many strikes lowers it. Pinning is strongest in heavily-traded names with large open-interest concentrations at high-OI strikes during the final week of an OPEX cycle. Whether CHWY actually pins on a given expiration depends on the OI distribution, the dealer-gamma sign, and the absence of catalyst-driven moves that overwhelm hedging-driven flow.
- How is CHWY max pain calculated?
- Max pain is computed by summing the dollar value of all in-the-money options at each candidate settlement strike across listed expirations, then selecting the strike that minimizes total intrinsic-value payout to option buyers. The calculation uses the full open-interest distribution and weighs both calls and puts. CHWY put/call OI ratio is 0.50 - call-heavy, which biases the max-pain calculation toward strikes above current spot when the call OI concentrates there.