CRI Straddle Strategy
CRI (Carter's, Inc.), in the Consumer Cyclical sector, (Apparel - Retail industry), listed on NYSE.
Carter's, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, sources, and markets branded childrenswear under the Carter's, OshKosh, Skip Hop, Child of Mine, Just One You, Simple Joys, Carter's My First Love, little planet, and other brands in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Retail, U.S. Wholesale, and International. Its Carter's products include babies and young children products, such as bodysuits, pants, dresses, knit sets, blankets, layette essentials, bibs, booties, sleep and play products, rompers, and jumpers; and OshKosh brand products comprise playclothes, such as denim apparel products with multiple wash treatments and coordinating garments, overalls, woven bottoms, knit tops, and bodysuits. The company also provides products for playtime, travel, mealtime, bathtime, and homegear, as well as kid's bags and diaper bags under the Skip Hop brand.
CRI (Carter's, Inc.) trades in the Consumer Cyclical sector, specifically Apparel - Retail, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.23B, a trailing P/E of 13.07, a beta of 0.85 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 23.38-44.44, average daily share volume of 1.3M, a public-listing history dating back to 2003, approximately 15K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CRI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.85 places CRI roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. CRI pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a straddle on CRI?
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 CRI snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $33.58, ATM IV 47.60%, IV rank 11.30%, expected move 13.65%. The straddle on CRI 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 CRI specifically: CRI IV at 47.60% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a CRI straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 13.65% (roughly $4.58 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 CRI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CRI should anchor to the underlying notional of $33.58 per share and to the trader's directional view on CRI stock.
CRI straddle setup
The CRI 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 CRI near $33.58, the first option leg uses a $33.58 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CRI 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 CRI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $33.58 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $33.58 | N/A |
CRI 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.
CRI straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on CRI. 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 CRI
Straddles on CRI are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy CRI straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
CRI thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CRI extends from approximately $29.00 on the downside to $38.16 on the upside. A CRI 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 CRI IV rank near 11.30% 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 CRI at 47.60%. As a Consumer Cyclical name, CRI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CRI-specific events.
CRI 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. CRI positions also carry Consumer Cyclical sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CRI alongside the broader basket even when CRI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current CRI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on CRI?
- A straddle on CRI is the straddle strategy applied to CRI (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 CRI stock trading near $33.58, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CRI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CRI 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 CRI straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 47.60%), 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 CRI straddle?
- The breakeven for the CRI 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 CRI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 13.65%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on CRI?
- Straddles on CRI are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy CRI 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 CRI implied volatility affect this straddle?
- CRI ATM IV is at 47.60% with IV rank near 11.30%, 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.