AKBA Straddle Strategy
AKBA (Akebia Therapeutics, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with kidney diseases. The company's lead product investigational product candidate is vadadustat, an oral therapy, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent adult patients. It also offers Auryxia, a ferric citrate that is used to control the serum phosphorus levels in adult patients with DD-CKD on dialysis; and the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in adult patients with CKD not on dialysis. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has collaboration agreements with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for the development and commercialization of vadadustat in the United States, the European Union, Russia, China, Australia, Canada, the Middle East, and other countries; and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation for the development and commercialization of vadadustat in Japan and other Asian countries, as well as research and license agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV for the development and commercialization of hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase targeted compounds worldwide. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
AKBA (Akebia Therapeutics, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $316.5M, a beta of 0.35 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 1.125-4.079, average daily share volume of 3.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 2014, approximately 181 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how AKBA stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.35 indicates AKBA has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.
What is a straddle on AKBA?
A long straddle buys an ATM call and an ATM put at the same strike, profiting from a large move in either direction; max loss equals the combined debit when the underlying pins to the strike at expiration.
Current AKBA snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $1.08, ATM IV 173.60%, IV rank 47.14%, expected move 49.77%. The straddle on AKBA below is built from the same end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 34-day expiry.
Why this straddle structure on AKBA specifically: AKBA IV at 173.60% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 49.77% (roughly $0.54 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated AKBA expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on AKBA should anchor to the underlying notional of $1.08 per share and to the trader's directional view on AKBA stock.
AKBA straddle setup
The AKBA straddle below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With AKBA near $1.08, the first option leg uses a $1.08 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed AKBA chain at a 34-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 AKBA shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $1.08 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $1.08 | N/A |
AKBA straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the strike minus the combined call plus put debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins to the strike). Two breakevens at strike plus debit and strike minus debit.
AKBA straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on AKBA. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.
When traders use straddle on AKBA
Straddles on AKBA are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy AKBA straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
AKBA thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for AKBA extends from approximately $0.54 on the downside to $1.62 on the upside. A AKBA long straddle is a pure-volatility play: it profits when the underlying moves far enough from the strike in either direction to overcome the combined call plus put debit, regardless of direction. Current AKBA IV rank near 47.14% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the straddle thesis on AKBA should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, AKBA options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to AKBA-specific events.
AKBA straddle positions are structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium); the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. AKBA positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move AKBA alongside the broader basket even when AKBA-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current AKBA chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on AKBA?
- A straddle on AKBA is the straddle strategy applied to AKBA (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium): A long straddle buys an ATM call and an ATM put at the same strike, profiting from a large move in either direction; max loss equals the combined debit when the underlying pins to the strike at expiration. With AKBA stock trading near $1.08, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed AKBA chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are AKBA straddle max profit and max loss calculated?
- Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the strike minus the combined call plus put debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins to the strike). Two breakevens at strike plus debit and strike minus debit. For the AKBA straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 173.60%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a AKBA straddle?
- The breakeven for the AKBA straddle priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve at expiration, derived from end-of-day chain premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The current AKBA market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 49.77%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on AKBA?
- Straddles on AKBA are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy AKBA straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
- How does current AKBA implied volatility affect this straddle?
- AKBA ATM IV is at 173.60% with IV rank near 47.14%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.