What is the max pain price for SMH?

As of 2026-07-10, the max pain price for SMH options expiring 2026-07-13 is $597.5. Max pain is the strike at which option buyers collectively lose the most value at expiration, computed from open interest.

What does max pain mean in options trading?

Max pain is the settlement price that minimizes the total intrinsic value paid out to option holders at expiration. Some traders watch it because prices are hypothesized to drift toward this level into expiry, though academic evidence is mixed.

SMH Max Pain

VanEck Semiconductor ETF · open interest as of 2026-07-10 · spot $611.03 (2026-07-10 close) · updated nightly

Max pain · 2026-07-13

$597.5

spot is +2.26% vs max pain

Put/Call OI ratio

0.838

3,950 puts / 4,716 calls

Call wall

$632.5

largest call OI strike

Put wall

$570

largest put OI strike

Open interest by strike — 2026-07-13

■ Call OI ■ Put OI — strikes within ±15% of max pain.

SMH max pain by expiration

Expiration	Max pain	Spot vs MP	P/C ratio	Call wall	Put wall	Call OI	Put OI
2026-07-10	$610	+0.17%	4.68	$630	$425	53,924	252,387
2026-07-13 ·	$597.5	+2.26%	0.838	$632.5	$570	4,716	3,950
2026-07-15	$600	+1.84%	2.457	$625	$600	381	936
2026-07-17	$600	+1.84%	2.896	$640	$525	184,884	535,513
2026-07-20	$590	+3.56%	0.536	$630	$550	754	404
2026-07-22	$597.5	+2.26%	0.721	$630	$540	587	423
2026-07-24	$625	-2.24%	2.534	$930	$600	12,031	30,487
2026-07-31	$605	+1%	4.385	$720	$545	16,094	70,568
2026-08-07	$605	+1%	1.851	$880	$550	4,053	7,501
2026-08-14	$600	+1.84%	0.078	$675	$500	7,236	567
2026-08-21	$600	+1.84%	3.517	$650	$475	84,110	295,783

What is max pain?

Max pain (or "maximum pain") is the strike price at which the greatest number of option buyers would lose money if SMH settled there at expiration. For each candidate settlement price, sum the intrinsic value of every in-the-money call and put weighted by open interest; the price that minimizes that total payout is the max pain point.

Some traders watch max pain because of the theory that prices tend to gravitate toward this level as expiration approaches ("pinning"). The academic evidence is mixed — treat it as a read on positioning, not a prediction. The call wall and put wall (largest single-strike open interest) are often watched as near-term resistance and support zones for the same reason. Full walkthrough with a worked example: what is max pain?

More SMH options data

Same open interest, different lens: the SMH gamma exposure (GEX) dashboard shows how dealer hedging of these contracts may dampen or amplify moves — net GEX, gamma flip level, and gamma walls.

Own SMH as a fund holding?

SMH is also one of the 73 ETFs we track for portfolio overlap. See which ETFs overlap most with SMH before adding it next to funds you already hold.

Max pain for other tickers

DIA max pain $520 IWM max pain $298 QQQ max pain $720 RSP max pain $210 SOXX max pain $585 SPY max pain $750 VOO max pain $675 XBI max pain $145

Derived metrics computed from end-of-day open interest (methodology); not raw market data, not investment advice. Open interest settles once daily — intraday moves are not reflected.