How are HLI 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 HLI straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 33.30%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$801.96 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a HLI straddle?

The breakeven for the HLI straddle priced on this page is roughly $126.90 and $143.10 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 HLI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 9.55%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current HLI implied volatility affect this straddle?

HLI ATM IV is at 33.30% with IV rank near 3.27%, 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.

HLI Straddle Strategy

HLI (Houlihan Lokey, Inc.), in the Financial Services sector, (Financial - Capital Markets industry), listed on NYSE.

Houlihan Lokey, Inc. is a prominent global investment banking firm offering a comprehensive suite of financial advisory services. These include expertise in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), capital markets, financial restructuring, and valuation. The company's operations are divided into three core segments: The Corporate Finance division provides broad financial guidance. It assists both public and private entities with strategic buy-side and sell-side transactions and a variety of capital-raising activities, such as leveraged loans, private mezzanine debt, high-yield debt, initial public offerings (IPOs), follow-on offerings, convertibles, equity private placements, and private equity investments. This segment also advises financial sponsors on diverse deal structures and liability management initiatives. The Financial Restructuring segment guides debtors, creditors, and other involved parties through complex recapitalization and deleveraging processes.

HLI (Houlihan Lokey, Inc.) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Financial - Capital Markets, with a market capitalization of approximately $9.57B, a trailing P/E of 21.59, a beta of 0.95 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 133.83-211.777, average daily share volume of 677K, a public-listing history dating back to 2015, approximately 3K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how HLI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.95 places HLI roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. HLI pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a straddle on HLI?

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 HLI snapshot

As of June 30, 2026, spot at $134.40, ATM IV 33.30%, IV rank 3.27%, expected move 9.55%. The straddle on HLI 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 17-day expiry.

Why this straddle structure on HLI specifically: HLI IV at 33.30% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a HLI straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.55% (roughly $12.83 on the underlying). The 17-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated HLI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on HLI should anchor to the underlying notional of $134.40 per share and to the trader's directional view on HLI stock.

HLI straddle setup

The HLI 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 HLI near $134.40, the first option leg uses a $135.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed HLI chain at a 17-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 HLI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$135.00	$3.85
Buy 1	Put	$135.00	$4.25

HLI straddle risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$810.00
Max Profit (per contract): Unbounded
Max Loss (per contract): -$801.96
Breakeven(s): $126.90, $143.10
Risk / Reward Ratio: Unbounded

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.

HLI straddle payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on HLI. 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.

P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.

Underlying Price	% From Spot	P&L at Expiration
$0.01	-100.0%	+$12,689.00
$29.73	-77.9%	+$9,717.45
$59.44	-55.8%	+$6,745.90
$89.16	-33.7%	+$3,774.36
$118.87	-11.6%	+$802.81
$148.59	+10.6%	+$548.74
$178.30	+32.7%	+$3,520.29
$208.02	+54.8%	+$6,491.83
$237.73	+76.9%	+$9,463.38
$267.45	+99.0%	+$12,434.93

When traders use straddle on HLI

Straddles on HLI are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy HLI straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.

HLI thesis for this straddle

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for HLI extends from approximately $121.57 on the downside to $147.23 on the upside. A HLI 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 HLI IV rank near 3.27% 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 HLI at 33.30%. As a Financial Services name, HLI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to HLI-specific events.

HLI 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. HLI positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move HLI alongside the broader basket even when HLI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current HLI chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a straddle on HLI?: A straddle on HLI is the straddle strategy applied to HLI (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 HLI stock trading near $134.40, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed HLI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are HLI 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 HLI straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 33.30%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$801.96 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a HLI straddle?: The breakeven for the HLI straddle priced on this page is roughly $126.90 and $143.10 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 HLI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 9.55%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a straddle on HLI?: Straddles on HLI are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy HLI 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 HLI implied volatility affect this straddle?: HLI ATM IV is at 33.30% with IV rank near 3.27%, 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.