Cytokinetics, Incorporated (CYTK) Volatility Skew
Implied volatility skew shows how IV varies across strike prices for a given expiration. Steeper skews indicate higher demand for downside protection relative to upside speculation.
Cytokinetics, Incorporated (CYTK) operates in the Healthcare sector, specifically the Biotechnology industry, with a market capitalization near $9.61B, listed on NASDAQ, employing roughly 498 people, carrying a beta of 0.38 to the broader market. Cytokinetics, Incorporated, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing muscle activators and inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases. Led by Robert I. Blum, public since 2004-04-30.
Snapshot as of May 15, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $75.91
- ATM IV
- 49.3%
- IV Skew 25Δ
- -0.032
- IV Rank
- 2.7%
- IV Percentile
- 12.7%
- Term Structure Slope
- -0.009
As of May 15, 2026, Cytokinetics, Incorporated (CYTK) at-the-money implied volatility is 49.3%. IV rank is 2.7% (where 0% is the 52-week low and 100% is the 52-week high). IV percentile is 12.7%. The 25-delta skew is -0.032: puts carry meaningful premium over calls, a classic equity downside-protection skew. High IV rank typically favors premium-selling strategies; low IV rank favors premium-buying.
CYTK Strategy Selection at Current Volatility Levels
For Cytokinetics, Incorporated options at 49.3% ATM IV, low IV rank (2.7%) favors premium-buying or long-vol structures: long calls or puts, debit spreads, calendar spreads, long straddles. The risk: low-rank regimes can persist for months while time decay eats premium-buyers alive. The 25-delta skew is meaningfully put-skewed, so put-credit spreads capture more premium for the same width than call-credit spreads. Pair the vol-rank read with the dealer-gamma view and the upcoming-events calendar to confirm the strategy fits both the structural regime and the path-dependent risk. The variance risk premium - the persistent gap between implied and subsequently realized vol - is positive in equity markets on average; high IV rank typically reflects a stretch where the premium is wider than usual.
Learn how volatility skew is reported and how to read the data →
CYTK highest implied-volatility contracts
| Type | Strike | Expiration | Volume | OI | IV | Bid | Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CALL | $90.00 | Jun 18, 2026 | 2.1K | 124 | 50.9% | $0.60 | $1.10 |
| CALL | $80.00 | Jun 18, 2026 | 2.1K | 2.5K | 49.7% | $2.70 | $3.40 |
| CALL | $90.00 | Jun 18, 2026 | 2.1K | 124 | 50.9% | $0.60 | $1.10 |
| CALL | $80.00 | Jan 15, 2027 | 1.8K | 12.0K | 62.6% | $14.60 | $15.20 |
Top 4 contracts from the ORATS-sourced nightly scan; ranked by iv within the broader S&P 500/400/600 + ETF universe.
Frequently asked CYTK volatility skew questions
- What is the current CYTK ATM implied volatility?
- As of May 15, 2026, Cytokinetics, Incorporated (CYTK) at-the-money implied volatility is 49.3%. IV rank is 2.7% on a 0-100% scale anchored to the 1-year IV range. ATM IV is the volatility input that makes a Black-Scholes-equivalent model reproduce the listed at-the-money option prices.
- Is CYTK IV high or low historically?
- IV is subdued relative to its 1-year history, conditions that typically favor premium-buying strategies (long calls, long puts, debit spreads, calendar spreads).
- What does CYTK volatility skew tell options traders?
- Volatility skew is the pattern by which IV varies across strikes for a given expiration. Cytokinetics, Incorporated carries the typical equity downside-protection skew: 25-delta puts price meaningfully richer than 25-delta calls. Skew matters for risk-defined strategy selection: when downside puts are rich, put-credit spreads capture more premium; when upside calls are rich, call-credit spreads or covered-call writes harvest more.