Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) 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.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) operates in the Basic Materials sector, specifically the Copper industry, with a market capitalization near $96.55B, listed on NYSE, employing roughly 28,500 people, carrying a beta of 1.32 to the broader market. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Led by Kathleen Lynne Quirk, public since 1995-07-10.
Snapshot as of May 15, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $63.17
- ATM IV
- 51.2%
- IV Skew 25Δ
- -0.026
- IV Rank
- 68.6%
- IV Percentile
- 83.3%
- Term Structure Slope
- -0.018
As of May 15, 2026, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) at-the-money implied volatility is 51.2%. IV rank is 68.6% (where 0% is the 52-week low and 100% is the 52-week high). IV percentile is 83.3%. The 25-delta skew is -0.026: 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.
FCX Strategy Selection at Current Volatility Levels
For Freeport-McMoRan Inc. options at 51.2% ATM IV, mid-range IV rank (68.6%) is the regime where directional conviction matters more than vol-regime positioning; strategy choice should follow the event calendar and the dealer-positioning view rather than IV rank alone. 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 →
FCX highest implied-volatility contracts
| Type | Strike | Expiration | Volume | OI | IV | Bid | Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PUT | $65.00 | May 29, 2026 | 1.9K | 115 | 50.9% | $3.30 | $3.55 |
Top 1 contracts from the ORATS-sourced nightly scan; ranked by iv within the broader S&P 500/400/600 + ETF universe.
Frequently asked FCX volatility skew questions
- What is the current FCX ATM implied volatility?
- As of May 15, 2026, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) at-the-money implied volatility is 51.2%. IV rank is 68.6% 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 FCX IV high or low historically?
- IV is near its 1-year median, a regime where strategy choice depends on directional conviction and event calendar rather than vol regime.
- What does FCX volatility skew tell options traders?
- Volatility skew is the pattern by which IV varies across strikes for a given expiration. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. 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.