HCAT Straddle Strategy
HCAT (Health Catalyst, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Healthcare Information Services industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Health Catalyst, Inc. provides data and analytics technology and services to healthcare organizations. Its offerings include data and analytics platform, a commercial-grade data and analytics platform for the healthcare sector; AI and data science, providing integration of AI into existing business intelligence tools, increasing analytics accuracy; population health management identifies improvement across the care continuum as well as actionable guidance for success and automated workflows; financial transformation providing costing and labor productivity insights and revenue capture; quality and safety improvement using clinical quality and patient safety data, analytics, and expert services; and national data ecosystem for thought leadership and mutual knowledge exchange to transform care delivery through next-gen insights. The company was formerly known as HQC Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Health Catalyst, Inc. in March 2017. Health Catalyst, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is based in South Jordan, Utah.
HCAT (Health Catalyst, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Healthcare Information Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $99.0M, a beta of 1.63 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 0.955-4.291, average daily share volume of 796K, a public-listing history dating back to 2019, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how HCAT stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.63 indicates HCAT 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 straddle on HCAT?
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 HCAT snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $1.19, ATM IV 27.90%, IV rank 3.90%, expected move 8.00%. The straddle on HCAT 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 HCAT specifically: HCAT IV at 27.90% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a HCAT straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 8.00% (roughly $0.10 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 HCAT expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on HCAT should anchor to the underlying notional of $1.19 per share and to the trader's directional view on HCAT stock.
HCAT straddle setup
The HCAT 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 HCAT near $1.19, the first option leg uses a $1.19 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed HCAT 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 HCAT shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $1.19 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $1.19 | N/A |
HCAT 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.
HCAT straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on HCAT. 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 HCAT
Straddles on HCAT are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy HCAT straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
HCAT thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for HCAT extends from approximately $1.09 on the downside to $1.29 on the upside. A HCAT 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 HCAT IV rank near 3.90% 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 HCAT at 27.90%. As a Healthcare name, HCAT options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to HCAT-specific events.
HCAT 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. HCAT positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move HCAT alongside the broader basket even when HCAT-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current HCAT chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on HCAT?
- A straddle on HCAT is the straddle strategy applied to HCAT (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 HCAT stock trading near $1.19, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed HCAT chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are HCAT 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 HCAT straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 27.90%), 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 HCAT straddle?
- The breakeven for the HCAT 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 HCAT market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 8.00%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on HCAT?
- Straddles on HCAT are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy HCAT 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 HCAT implied volatility affect this straddle?
- HCAT ATM IV is at 27.90% with IV rank near 3.90%, 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.