iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) Expected Move
Expected move estimates the probable price range for a given period based on at-the-money options pricing. It reflects the market consensus for volatility over the selected timeframe.
iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) operates in the Financial Services sector, specifically the Asset Management industry, with a market capitalization near $14.30B, listed on CBOE, carrying a beta of 1.01 to the broader market. This Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) aims to replicate the investment performance of a specific market index. public since 2006-05-05.
Snapshot as of Jun 30, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $241.41
- Expected Move
- 6.9%
- Implied High
- $258.09
- Implied Low
- $224.73
- Front DTE
- 17 days
As of Jun 30, 2026, iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) has an expected move of 6.91%, a one-standard-deviation implied price range of roughly $224.73 to $258.09 from the current $241.41. Expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market's pricing of a ±1σ move. Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within this range under lognormal assumptions, though empirical markets have fatter tails.
ITA Strategy Sizing to the Expected Move
With iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF pricing an expected move of 6.91% from $241.41, risk-defined strategies sized to the implied range structurally target the modal outcome distribution. Iron condors with wings at the ±1σ expected move boundaries collect premium against the ~68% probability that spot stays inside the range under lognormal assumptions; strangles set wider at ±1.5σ or ±2σ target the tails but pay smaller per-trade premium. Long-vol structures (long straddles, ratio backspreads) profit when realized move exceeds the implied move, the inverse trade: they bet against the lognormal assumption itself, capitalizing on the empirically fatter equity-return tails.
How to read the ITA implied-range chart
The shaded range above shows the one-standard-deviation implied price band at each listed expiration, derived from ATM implied volatility scaled to days-to-expiration. The front-tenor expected move is 6.91%, anchoring an implied range of approximately $224.73 to $258.09. Under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside that band; 95% fall inside ±2σ; 99.7% inside ±3σ. The empirical equity-return distribution has fatter tails than lognormal, so true tail-outcome frequency is moderately higher than these closed-form numbers suggest.
ITA expected move and event pricing
Expected move widens with √time: a 5% 30-day move corresponds to roughly a 2.5% 7.5-day move and a 10% 120-day move. ITA term-structure is in contango (slope 0.006), so longer-dated tenors price in proportionally more vol than √time scaling alone would suggest - typically because long-dated cycles include uncertain macro states.
Sizing ITA structures to the expected move
Iron condors with wings at ±1σ collect the modal-outcome premium; ±1.5σ widens probability of inside-range to ~87% but cuts collected premium roughly in half. Strangles do the inverse trade - they pay against the same lognormal distribution, profiting when realized exceeds implied. Calendar spreads bet on the slope of the term structure rather than the level. ITA put/call volume ratio currently at 0.27 indicates speculative call flow dominates - look for upside-skewed sentiment. The expected move is the inputs the chain is pricing, not a forecast - realized moves above or below are normal under any distribution.
Learn how expected move is reported and how to read the data →
Per-expiration expected move for ITA derived from ATM implied volatility at each listed expiration. Implied high/low bounds are computed as $241.41 × (1 ± expected move %). One standard-deviation range under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside.
| Expiration | DTE | ATM IV | Expected Move | Implied High | Implied Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 17, 2026 | 17 | 24.1% | 5.2% | $253.97 | $228.85 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 52 | 24.7% | 9.3% | $263.92 | $218.90 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 108 | 24.0% | 13.1% | $272.93 | $209.89 |
| Dec 18, 2026 | 171 | 24.5% | 16.8% | $281.89 | $200.93 |
| Jan 15, 2027 | 199 | 24.4% | 18.0% | $284.90 | $197.92 |
| Mar 19, 2027 | 262 | 24.3% | 20.6% | $291.11 | $191.71 |
| Jun 17, 2027 | 352 | 23.8% | 23.4% | $297.83 | $184.99 |
Frequently asked ITA expected move questions
- What is the current ITA expected move?
- As of Jun 30, 2026, iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) has an expected move of 6.91% over the next 17 days, implying a one-standard-deviation price range of $224.73 to $258.09 from the current $241.41. The expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market consensus for a ±1σ price move.
- What does the ITA expected move mean for traders?
- Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within ±1 expected move and 95% within ±2 under lognormal assumptions, though equity returns have empirically fatter tails than log-normal predicts. Strategies sized to the expected move (iron condors at ±1σ, strangles at ±1.5σ) target the typical outcome distribution; strategies that profit from tail moves (long-vol structures, ratio backspreads) target the tails the lognormal model under-prices.
- How is ITA expected move calculated?
- The expected move displayed here is derived from at-the-money implied volatility scaled to the chosen tenor: expected move % is approximately ATM IV times sqrt(T / 365), where T is days to expiration. An equivalent straddle-based form: the ATM straddle (call + put at the same strike) is roughly sqrt(2/pi) times spot times IV times sqrt(T/365), so the implied one-standard-deviation move is approximately 1.25 times ATM straddle divided by spot. The two formulations agree once the sqrt(2/pi) constant is reconciled.