Shopify Options Traders Load Up on $110 Puts as SHOP Slides to $105 in May 2026
By TrendSpider Editor
Unusual options activity is flashing a cautionary signal in Shopify Inc. (SHOP) today, with a dominant $735,000 put contract at the $110 strike drawing the most attention among five flagged trades totaling $1,048,095 in combined premium. SHOP is currently trading at $105.39, down 2.07% on the sessio
Shopify Options Traders Load Up on $110 Puts as SHOP Slides to $105 in May 2026
Unusual options activity is flashing a cautionary signal in Shopify Inc. (SHOP) today, with a dominant $735,000 put contract at the $110 strike drawing the most attention among five flagged trades totaling $1,048,095 in combined premium. SHOP is currently trading at $105.39, down 2.07% on the session, and sits closer to the low end of its 52-week range of $88.14 to $182.19. The options positioning reflects a market increasingly skeptical about a near-term recovery, with bearish money outweighing bullish bets in today's unusual flow.
Key Drivers of the SHOP Stock Move
- Main Catalyst: Five unusual options contracts were flagged in SHOP today, carrying a total premium of $1,048,095. The single largest trade is a PUT at the $110 strike expiring May 15, 2026, with a size of 1,050 contracts, a premium of $735,000, and open interest usage of just 19%, suggesting a largely fresh position. That contract is currently in the money with SHOP trading at $105.39.
- Bull Case: Two deep in-the-money CALL contracts at the $55 strike expiring January 21, 2028, each carrying $126,000 and $126,420 in premium respectively, represent meaningful long-dated bullish exposure. A third call at the $85 strike expiring May 29, 2026, is also in the money with a premium of $30,675 and open interest usage of 375%, indicating significant accumulation relative to existing open interest.
- Bear Case: The $735,000 put at $110 expiring in just nine days is the dominant position in today's flow by a wide margin and it is already in the money. The stock's 2.07% drop today, combined with a price of $105.39 that sits well below the midpoint of the 52-week range, reinforces that bears currently hold the momentum advantage heading into mid-May expiration.
The forward setup for SHOP carries meaningful near-term risk. The $110 put expiring May 15, 2026, is deep enough in the money that even a modest bounce may not be enough to rescue bulls before expiration. At the same time, the $126 strike call expiring May 15, 2026, with 1,000 contracts and a $30,000 premium, sits out of the money and would require a sharp 20% reversal within nine days to pay off. That asymmetry in positioning tells a clear story: the dominant short-term bet is lower, while longer-dated conviction calls dated out to January 2028 suggest some traders still see a multi-year recovery thesis intact. Shopify has faced persistent pressure since its 52-week high of $182.19, and at $105.39, the stock has shed more than 42% from that peak, leaving sentiment fragile heading into the back half of May.
SHOP Unusual Options Activity
- CALL | Strike: $55 | Expiry: January 21, 2028 | Size: 21 | Open Interest Usage: 263% | Status: In the Money | Premium: $126,000
- CALL | Strike: $55 | Expiry: January 21, 2028 | Size: 21 | Open Interest Usage: 263% | Status: In the Money | Premium: $126,420
- CALL | Strike: $85 | Expiry: May 29, 2026 | Size: 15 | Open Interest Usage: 375% | Status: In the Money | Premium: $30,675
- CALL | Strike: $126 | Expiry: May 15, 2026 | Size: 1,000 | Open Interest Usage: 68% | Status: Out of the Money | Premium: $30,000
- PUT | Strike: $110 | Expiry: May 15, 2026 | Size: 1,050 | Open Interest Usage: 19% | Status: In the Money | Premium: $735,000
SHOP Seasonality
May has historically been a transitional and often volatile month for high-growth technology and e-commerce names, with options expiration cycles in mid-May frequently amplifying short-term price swings. The concentration of large positions in the May 15 expiration window this week underscores how significant the next nine trading days could be for SHOP's near-term price action.
SHOP Relative Performance
SHOP's 2.07% decline today is notable in the context of its broader drawdown from the 52-week high of $182.19, with the stock now trading at $105.39, only $17.25 above its 52-week low of $88.14. That proximity to annual lows suggests SHOP is underperforming relative to where it traded for much of the past year, and the current price level leaves limited technical cushion before the stock would test territory not seen since the bottom of its recent range.