GTN Straddle Strategy
GTN (Gray Media, Inc.), in the Communication Services sector, (Broadcasting industry), listed on NYSE.
Gray Media, Inc., a television broadcasting company, owns and/or operates television stations and digital assets in the United States. It also broadcasts secondary digital channels affiliated to ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX, as well as various other networks and program services, including CW Plus Network, MY Network, the MeTV Network, Justice, This TV Network, Antenna TV, Telemundo, Cozi, Heroes and Icons, and MOVIES! Network; and local news/weather channels in various markets. In addition, the company offers video program production services. It owns and operates television stations and digital assets that serve 113 television markets in the United States. The company was formerly known as Gray Communications Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Gray Television, Inc. in August 2002.
GTN (Gray Media, Inc.) trades in the Communication Services sector, specifically Broadcasting, with a market capitalization of approximately $386.5M, a beta of 1.07 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 3.5-6.44, average daily share volume of 1.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 2002, approximately 9K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how GTN stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.07 places GTN roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. GTN pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a straddle on GTN?
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 GTN snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $4.13, ATM IV 64.10%, IV rank 29.40%, expected move 18.38%. The straddle on GTN 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 GTN specifically: GTN IV at 64.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a GTN straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 18.38% (roughly $0.76 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 GTN expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on GTN should anchor to the underlying notional of $4.13 per share and to the trader's directional view on GTN stock.
GTN straddle setup
The GTN 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 GTN near $4.13, the first option leg uses a $4.13 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed GTN 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 GTN shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $4.13 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $4.13 | N/A |
GTN 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.
GTN straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on GTN. 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 GTN
Straddles on GTN are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy GTN straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
GTN thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for GTN extends from approximately $3.37 on the downside to $4.89 on the upside. A GTN 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 GTN IV rank near 29.40% 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 GTN at 64.10%. As a Communication Services name, GTN options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to GTN-specific events.
GTN 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. GTN positions also carry Communication Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move GTN alongside the broader basket even when GTN-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current GTN chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on GTN?
- A straddle on GTN is the straddle strategy applied to GTN (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 GTN stock trading near $4.13, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed GTN chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are GTN 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 GTN straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 64.10%), 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 GTN straddle?
- The breakeven for the GTN 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 GTN market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 18.38%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on GTN?
- Straddles on GTN are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy GTN 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 GTN implied volatility affect this straddle?
- GTN ATM IV is at 64.10% with IV rank near 29.40%, 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.