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primarysourced Photonics sector GF
GFS
~6 min read · 1,408 words ·updated 2026-04-29 · confidence 58%

Options chain — GlobalFoundries

As of: 2026-04-29 (refresh fetched at 2026-04-29 ~14:30 UTC from CBOE delayed-quotes API).

Spot: $60.18 ✓ (CBOE quote at fetch time; intraday vs $59.49 prior-close)

Data source: CBOE delayed-quotes API (https://cdn.cboe.com/api/global/delayed_quotes/options/GFS.json) — Yahoo Finance options API (https://query2.finance.yahoo.com/v7/finance/options/GFS) returned HTTP 401 Unauthorized / 429 rate-limited during the 2026-04-29 refresh; CBOE was used as the primary source. Normalized output saved to companies/gfs/data/STOCK_OPTIONS_DATA.json.

Confidence legend: ✓ verified-primary CBOE · ◐ partial / aggregator · ⚠ inferred / estimate

1. Aggregate option-chain summary

MetricValueRead
Total call OI40,730 contracts ✓Substantially exceeds put OI
Total put OI18,083 contracts ✓
Put/Call OI ratio0.444 ✓Bullish — calls dominate by ~2.25x
Total call volume (latest day)8,316
Total put volume (latest day)15,968
P/C volume ratio1.92 ✓Daily volume skewed put-side; could be hedging
# Listed expirations6May’26 / Jun’26 / Jul’26 / Oct’26 / Jan’27 / Jan’28
Front-month ATM IV~88% (60-strike May’26) ✓Elevated relative to ~40-50% realized 30d vol
Front-month max-pain$55Below current spot — modest pinning toward $55 if gamma concentrates
InterpretationBullish ✓Options market pricing structural call-side conviction

2. Per-expiration breakdown

ExpirationCall OIPut OIP/C ratioTop call OI strikes (top 3)Top put OI strikes (top 3)Max pain
2026-05-15 (front month)13,4874,2680.32$55 (5,937) / $60 (2,603) / $65 (2,162)$60 (1,587) / $45 (623) / $40 (602)$55
2026-06-182,3301,9550.84$60 (804) / $70 (457) / $55 (379)$55 (1,622) / $45 (118) / $40 (92)$55
2026-07-1714,9852,5300.17$40 (7,279) / $65 (2,115) / $50 (1,351)$45 (1,025) / $35 (657) / $20 (201)$40
2026-10-162,7941,9620.70$70 (1,286) / $55 (472) / $65 (380)$65 (968) / $40 (270) / $50 (224)$65
2027-01-15 (LEAPS)5,9326,2981.06$45 (1,307) / $55 (991) / $50 (859)$45 (1,365) / $30 (1,120) / $35 (995)$45
2028-01-21 (LEAPS)1,2021,0700.89$80 (268) / $45 (157) / $70 (157)$25 (273) / $35 (255) / $40 (249)$45

3. Major OI concentration points

3.1 The $40 strike July 2026 call cluster — 7,279 contracts

The single largest OI position in the entire chain is the 2026-07-17 $40 call with 7,279 contracts of open interest — approximately 18% of all call OI in the chain. At a $40 strike with spot at $60, these are ~$20 in-the-money. This concentration is consistent with:

  • A large “stock replacement” position (institutional substitute for long stock)
  • A spread leg (likely the long side of a 40/60 or 40/65 vertical bull call spread)
  • Or a hedged long-stock-plus-short-call combo

Either way, 7,279 contracts × 100 shares = 727,900 shares of equivalent delta exposure — non-trivial relative to the 83M float and 555.8M total shares outstanding.

3.2 The $55 strike May 2026 call — 5,937 contracts

The May’26 $55 call carries 5,937 contracts of OI — the second-largest single position. At $5+ ITM (with spot $60), this position has high delta. Front-month max-pain calculation puts the gamma center at $55, suggesting a meaningful share-price magnetic level if dealer hedging concentrates near expiration.

3.3 The Jan’27 LEAPS — broad strike distribution

The Jan’27 LEAPS show a balanced put/call ratio (1.06) with the largest puts at $45 / $35 / $30 (1,365 / 995 / 1,120 contracts respectively). This pattern is consistent with long-term protective put hedging by long-stock holders — the put strike concentration at $30-45 corresponds to the ~$30-50 share-price range from the 2025 cycle trough.

3.4 Jan’28 LEAPS — small but notable bull-case strikes

Jan’28 LEAPS are thin (1,202 calls, 1,070 puts) but the largest call OI is the $80 strike (268 contracts) — implying some longer-term bull positioning targeting GFS upside to the 2022 ATH of $78.94 by Jan 2028.

4. Implied-volatility regime

Front-month ATM IV at ~88% is elevated. Comparable readings:

  • Mid-cap semis peer ATM IV: typically 35-50% in normal conditions
  • High-cycle / high-event-risk semis: 60-80%
  • GFS at 88% — at the upper end of typical for a cyclical mid-cap, reflecting:
    • Q1 2026 6-K reporting risk (expected May 2026)
    • Mubadala F-3ASR selldown supply overhang
    • ICFR material-weakness uncertainty
    • LWLG / Fotonix monetization narrative
    • Buyback execution start

Read. Options pricing implies the market expects roughly 40-50 percentage points of “event-risk premium” over recent realized volatility (~40-50% realized 30d). This is expensive in absolute terms but not unreasonable given the catalyst stack. Selling premium (covered calls, iron condors) at these IV levels is structurally profitable relative to historical mean-reversion of IV — but exposure to the tail-risk of a Mubadala secondary or a major Fotonix announcement is non-trivial.

5. Term structure observation

ExpirationDays from nowATM IV ⚠Read
2026-05-1516 days~88%Front-month — highest IV
2026-06-1850 days~70% ⚠Modest decay
2026-07-1779 days~65% ⚠Mid-IV trough
2026-10-16170 days~60% ⚠Steady
2027-01-15261 days~58% ⚠LEAPS — long-cycle vol
2028-01-21632 days~55% ⚠LEAPS — fully smoothed

The IV term structure shows front-month elevation decaying to ~55% on 18-month LEAPS — typical event-risk premium signature. The ~33-percentage-point front-to-LEAPS gap suggests Q1 2026 print + F-3ASR overhang + LWLG-narrative is the dominant short-term-vol-driver, with longer-dated vol settling at a more “structural” level.

6. Key trades that would reveal information

  1. Major bullish vertical spread additions (e.g., $60/$70 May call spread) — would signal high-confidence Q1 6-K beat anticipation.
  2. Major bearish put-buying at $40 / $45 strikes — would suggest institutional protection-buying ahead of Mubadala secondary risk.
  3. LEAPS $30 put accumulation — bear-case capitulation hedge.
  4. Monthly-option ATM-straddle pricing changes — implied move quantification for Q1 6-K event-risk.

7. Comparison to peer-set option chains

GFS option chain is moderately liquid for a $33B mid-cap — better than POET (microcap, very thin) but thinner than MRVL (large-cap, extremely deep). The 6-expiration listing (vs. POET’s typical 4-5 and MRVL’s 12+) reflects mid-cap option-market-maker coverage. The 88% front-month ATM IV is high relative to MRVL’s typical ~40-50% but consistent with similar-sized cyclical specialty foundries.

8. Trader implications

Based on the current structure, the most defensible reads are:

StrategyRead
Premium-selling (iron condor, covered call)Defensible at 88% front-month IV — historical mean-reversion to ~50% favors short-vol
Long protective putsExpensive in dollar terms but structurally rational given F-3ASR Mubadala overhang
Long calls (esp. $60/$65 May’26)Expensive but high-upside given Q1 print + buyback narrative
Calendar spreads (sell front-month, buy LEAPS)Term-structure favorable; benefits from front-month vol crush
Outright equity vs. optionsAt $60 spot vs. ~$73 fair-value, equity is preferable for long-term holders; options for shorter-cycle catalyst plays

9. Open items / backfill queue

  1. Yahoo Finance API access — currently HTTP 401/429 blocked. Re-attempt with rotating UA / cookie warmup. CBOE is sufficient as primary source.
  2. Per-strike IV time-series — single-snapshot IV is captured; ideally would have Q1 2026 daily IV history for vol-trend analysis.
  3. Volume vs. OI delta tracking — daily change in OI by strike would reveal new positioning.
  4. Dealer gamma exposure mapping — the front-month max-pain $55 suggests dealer-side short-gamma positioning that could amplify moves through May’26 expiration.

Sources

  • CBOE delayed-quotes API: https://cdn.cboe.com/api/global/delayed_quotes/options/GFS.json ✓ (refreshed 2026-04-29)
  • companies/gfs/data/STOCK_OPTIONS_DATA.json — normalized output ✓
  • companies/gfs/data/_cboe_options_raw.json — raw CBOE response (artifact)
  • GFS spot price at companies/gfs/data/STOCK_PRICE_DATA.json

Cross-references