AVIR Straddle Strategy
AVIR (Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing antiviral therapeutics for patients suffering from viral infections. Its lead product candidate is AT-527, an antiviral drug candidate that is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. The company also develops AT-752, an oral purine nucleoside prodrug product candidate, which has completed Phase Ia clinical trial for the treatment of dengue; AT-777, an NS5A inhibitor; AT-787, a co-formulated, oral, pan-genotypic fixed dose combination of AT-527 and AT-777 for the treatment of hepatitis C virous (HCV); and AT-281, a pharmaceutically acceptable salt for the treatment or prevention of an RNA viral infection, including dengue fever, yellow fever, Zika virus, and coronaviridae viral infection, as well as Ruzasvir, an investigational oral, pan genotypic NS5A inhibitor for the treatment of chronic HCV infection. It has a license agreement with Merck & Co, Inc. for development and commercialization of ruzasvir for the treatment of HCV. Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
AVIR (Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $364.1M, a beta of 0.38 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 2.455-6.45, average daily share volume of 447K, a public-listing history dating back to 2020, approximately 56 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how AVIR stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.38 indicates AVIR 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 AVIR?
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 AVIR snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $4.11, ATM IV 102.10%, IV rank 23.31%, expected move 29.27%. The straddle on AVIR 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 AVIR specifically: AVIR IV at 102.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a AVIR straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 29.27% (roughly $1.20 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 AVIR expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on AVIR should anchor to the underlying notional of $4.11 per share and to the trader's directional view on AVIR stock.
AVIR straddle setup
The AVIR 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 AVIR near $4.11, the first option leg uses a $4.11 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed AVIR 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 AVIR shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $4.11 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $4.11 | N/A |
AVIR 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.
AVIR straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on AVIR. 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 AVIR
Straddles on AVIR are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy AVIR straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
AVIR thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for AVIR extends from approximately $2.91 on the downside to $5.31 on the upside. A AVIR 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 AVIR IV rank near 23.31% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on AVIR at 102.10%. As a Healthcare name, AVIR options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to AVIR-specific events.
AVIR 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. AVIR positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move AVIR alongside the broader basket even when AVIR-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current AVIR chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on AVIR?
- A straddle on AVIR is the straddle strategy applied to AVIR (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 AVIR stock trading near $4.11, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed AVIR chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are AVIR 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 AVIR straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 102.10%), 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 AVIR straddle?
- The breakeven for the AVIR 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 AVIR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 29.27%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on AVIR?
- Straddles on AVIR are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy AVIR 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 AVIR implied volatility affect this straddle?
- AVIR ATM IV is at 102.10% with IV rank near 23.31%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.