GAMMA & VOLATILITY$MSFTMicrosoft CorpOpen ticker analysis →
Options positioning in Microsoft is stacking up around the $515 strike into Sep 25, right on top of where the stock trades at $516.35. Net gamma reads positive, a setup that tends to calm price swings and pull the stock toward heavy strikes.
What happened
Across 184 contracts in the Sep 25 expiration, the heaviest gamma sits at $515. Net gamma exposure across the chain comes to roughly $605.03M positive, with about $156.1M of premium traded.
This read uses the standard gamma-map convention, counting call open interest as positive gamma and put open interest as negative. Real dealer books can differ, so treat the sign as a guide to the setup rather than a certainty.
Why it matters
When net gamma is positive, market makers hedge against the move: they sell into rallies and buy into dips. That tends to compress ranges, which is why heavily positioned strikes can act like magnets into expiration.
For scale, Microsoft is a mega-cap prepackaged software company valued near $3.7T, so it takes serious money to move the stock, which is what makes signals like this one worth tracking.
With 1 days left, this is expiration-week territory, when pinning pressure around big strikes is usually at its strongest.
Zooming out, $MSFT has been in a mostly sideways stretch, up 0.3% over the past 20 sessions, and it trades above its 20-day average of $499.48, near the top of that range between $448.49 and $517.78.
The numbers
| Stock price | $516.35 |
|---|---|
| Expiration | Sep 25 (1 days) |
| Peak gamma strike | $515 |
| Strike vs. stock | 0.3% below |
| Net gamma exposure | $605.03M (positive) |
| Premium traded | $156.1M |
| Contracts in chain | 184 |
| 39-session range | $448.49 – $517.78 |
| 20-day average price | $499.48 |
| 20-session change | +0.3% |
Three ways this could play out
Bullish continuation
If $MSFT pushes through $542.16, it breaks away from the $515 cluster. In a positive-gamma setup that takes real buying, so follow-through would say something about demand.
Bearish rejection
If $MSFT drops under $448.49, the bottom of its recent range, the $515 cluster stops acting as support. Dealers buying the dip usually slows that slide at first.
Neutral stabilization
If $MSFT hovers near $515 into Sep 25, the cluster does its job and expiration-week pinning becomes the story.
What to watch next
- $515: the peak gamma strike and the most likely pin into expiration.
- Sep 25: expiration, when this positioning rolls off and the magnet effect ends.
- Whether net gamma flips sign as the stock moves. A flip from positive to negative often marks a volatility shift.
- $448.49 and $517.78: the edges of the recent trading range.
