CRL Iron Condor Strategy
CRL (Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Diagnostics & Research industry), listed on NYSE.
Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., a non-clinical contract research organization, provides drug discovery, non-clinical development, and safety testing services in the United States, Europe, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions (Manufacturing). The RMS segment produces and sells rodent research model strains and purpose-bred rats and mice for use by researchers. This segment also provides a range of services to assist its clients in supporting the use of research models in research and screening non-clinical drug candidates, including research models, genetically engineered models and services, insourcing solutions, and research animal diagnostic services. The DSA segment offers early and in vivo discovery services for the identification and validation of novel targets, chemical compounds, and antibodies through delivery of non-clinical drug and therapeutic candidates ready for safety assessment; and safety assessment services, such as toxicology, pathology, safety pharmacology, bioanalysis, drug metabolism, and pharmacokinetics services. The Manufacturing segment provides in vitro methods for conventional and rapid quality control testing of sterile and non-sterile pharmaceuticals and consumer products.
CRL (Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Diagnostics & Research, with a market capitalization of approximately $7.84B, a beta of 1.45 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 132.58-228.88, average daily share volume of 976K, a public-listing history dating back to 2000, approximately 19K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CRL stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.45 indicates CRL has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position.
What is a iron condor on CRL?
An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes.
Current CRL snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $150.70, ATM IV 50.30%, IV rank 35.35%, expected move 14.42%. The iron condor on CRL 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 iron condor structure on CRL specifically: CRL IV at 50.30% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a CRL iron condor sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 14.42% (roughly $21.73 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 CRL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CRL should anchor to the underlying notional of $150.70 per share and to the trader's directional view on CRL stock.
CRL iron condor setup
The CRL iron condor below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With CRL near $150.70, the first option leg uses a $160.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CRL 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 CRL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Call | $160.00 | $6.45 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $165.00 | $5.00 |
| Sell 1 | Put | $145.00 | $5.90 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $135.00 | $2.98 |
CRL iron condor risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$437.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $437.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$562.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $140.63, $164.43
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.778
Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit.
CRL iron condor payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the iron condor on CRL. 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% | -$562.50 |
| $33.33 | -77.9% | -$562.50 |
| $66.65 | -55.8% | -$562.50 |
| $99.97 | -33.7% | -$562.50 |
| $133.29 | -11.6% | -$562.50 |
| $166.61 | +10.6% | -$62.50 |
| $199.93 | +32.7% | -$62.50 |
| $233.25 | +54.8% | -$62.50 |
| $266.57 | +76.9% | -$62.50 |
| $299.89 | +99.0% | -$62.50 |
When traders use iron condor on CRL
Iron condors on CRL are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if CRL stock stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
CRL thesis for this iron condor
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CRL extends from approximately $128.97 on the downside to $172.43 on the upside. A CRL iron condor is a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that pays off when CRL stays inside the inner short strikes through expiration; the wing width should reflect the trader's tolerance for the maximum loss scenario where the underlying breaches an outer strike. Current CRL IV rank near 35.35% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the iron condor thesis on CRL should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, CRL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CRL-specific events.
CRL iron condor positions are structurally neutral / range-bound; 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. CRL positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CRL alongside the broader basket even when CRL-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a iron condor on CRL carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical CRL earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current CRL chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a iron condor on CRL?
- A iron condor on CRL is the iron condor strategy applied to CRL (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / range-bound: An iron condor sells a call spread and a put spread at strikes outside spot, collecting net premium that is kept if the underlying stays inside the inner short strikes. With CRL stock trading near $150.70, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CRL chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CRL iron condor max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the net credit times 100 inside the inner strikes; max loss equals wing width minus credit times 100. Two breakevens at inner strikes plus and minus the credit. For the CRL iron condor priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 50.30%), the computed maximum profit is $437.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$562.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a CRL iron condor?
- The breakeven for the CRL iron condor priced on this page is roughly $140.63 and $164.43 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 CRL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 14.42%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a iron condor on CRL?
- Iron condors on CRL are a delta-neutral premium-collection structure that profits if CRL stock stays inside the inner short strikes; short strikes typically sit near 1 standard deviation from spot.
- How does current CRL implied volatility affect this iron condor?
- CRL ATM IV is at 50.30% with IV rank near 35.35%, 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.