SiTime Corporation (SITM) 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.
SiTime Corporation (SITM) operates in the Technology sector, specifically the Semiconductors industry, with a market capitalization near $22.05B, listed on NASDAQ, employing roughly 395 people, carrying a beta of 2.91 to the broader market. SiTime Corporation designs, develops, and sells silicon timing systems solutions in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the United States, and internationally. Led by Rajesh Vashist, public since 2019-11-20.
Snapshot as of May 15, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $777.61
- Max Pain Strike
- $690.00
- Total OI
- 7.1K
As of May 15, 2026, SiTime Corporation (SITM) max pain sits at $690.00, which is below the current spot price of $777.61 (11.3% away). Spot sits 11.3% below 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. SITM is a high-priced underlying (spot $777.61), so listed strikes typically space $5-$25 apart and the per-contract gamma is large per dollar of underlying. Total open interest across the listed chain is comparatively thin (7.1K contracts), so single-strike pinning is less reliable than it is for high-OI names. SITM is currently in negative dealer gamma (-$2.3M), 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.
SITM Strategy Implications at the Current Max Pain Level
With spot 11.3% from the $690.00 max-pain level and SiTime Corporation 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 →
Frequently asked SITM max pain analysis questions
- What is the current SITM max pain strike?
- As of May 15, 2026, SiTime Corporation (SITM) max pain sits at $690.00, which is 11.3% below the current spot price of $777.61. 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 11.3% 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 SITM pin to its max pain strike at expiration?
- SITM 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 SITM (7.1K 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 SITM 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 SITM 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. SITM put/call OI ratio is 1.05 - balanced, so the max-pain calculation reflects the strike where the call and put OI distributions cross rather than a single dominant side.