CRAI Straddle Strategy
CRAI (CRA International, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Consulting Services industry), listed on NASDAQ.
CRA International, Inc., along with its affiliated entities, delivers specialized advisory services across the domains of economics, finance, and management in the United States, the United Kingdom, and globally. The firm provides expert guidance to clients on economic and financial considerations arising from legal disputes and regulatory challenges. Additionally, it collaborates with corporations to address matters of business strategy and operational effectiveness. Its comprehensive consulting offerings encompass in-depth research and analysis, expert witness testimony, and robust support for corporate clients and legal practitioners navigating litigation and regulatory proceedings. These services cover critical areas such as finance, accounting, economics, insurance, and forensic accounting and investigations. Moreover, CRA International's management consulting capabilities are extensive, covering areas like strategy formulation, performance enhancement, corporate strategic planning, portfolio analysis, market demand forecasting, new product pricing strategies, valuation of intellectual property and other assets, competitive intelligence, and the evaluation of new supply chain opportunities.
CRAI (CRA International, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Consulting Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.09B, a trailing P/E of 21.70, a beta of 0.65 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 132.17-227.29, average daily share volume of 170K, a public-listing history dating back to 1998, approximately 959 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CRAI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.65 indicates CRAI has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. CRAI pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a straddle on CRAI?
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.
CRAI snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $168.37, ATM IV 271.40%, IV rank 52.91%, expected move 77.81%. The straddle on CRAI below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 7-day expiry.
Why this straddle structure on CRAI specifically: CRAI IV at 271.40% 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 77.81% (roughly $131.01 on the underlying). The 7-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated CRAI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CRAI should anchor to the underlying notional of $168.37 per share and to the trader's directional view on CRAI stock.
CRAI straddle setup
The CRAI straddle below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With CRAI at $168.37 on that close, the first option leg uses a $170.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CRAI chain at a 7-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 CRAI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $170.00 | $2.55 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $170.00 | $3.05 |
CRAI straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$560.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$482.11
- Breakeven(s)
- $164.40, $175.60
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- Unbounded
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.
CRAI straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on CRAI. 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.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | +$16,439.00 |
| $37.24 | -77.9% | +$12,716.36 |
| $74.46 | -55.8% | +$8,993.71 |
| $111.69 | -33.7% | +$5,271.07 |
| $148.92 | -11.6% | +$1,548.43 |
| $186.14 | +10.6% | +$1,054.22 |
| $223.37 | +32.7% | +$4,776.86 |
| $260.60 | +54.8% | +$8,499.50 |
| $297.82 | +76.9% | +$12,222.15 |
| $335.05 | +99.0% | +$15,944.79 |
When traders use straddle on CRAI
Straddles on CRAI are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy CRAI straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
CRAI thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CRAI extends from approximately $37.36 on the downside to $299.38 on the upside. A CRAI 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 CRAI IV rank near 52.91% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the straddle thesis on CRAI should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Industrials name, CRAI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CRAI-specific events.
CRAI 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. CRAI positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CRAI alongside the broader basket even when CRAI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current CRAI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on CRAI?
- A straddle on CRAI is the straddle strategy applied to CRAI (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 CRAI stock at $168.37 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CRAI chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CRAI 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 CRAI straddle priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 271.40%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$482.11 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a CRAI straddle?
- The breakeven for the CRAI straddle priced on this page is roughly $164.40 and $175.60 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The CRAI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 77.81%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on CRAI?
- Straddles on CRAI are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy CRAI 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 CRAI implied volatility affect this straddle?
- CRAI ATM IV is at 271.40% with IV rank near 52.91%, 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.