LSTR Straddle Strategy
LSTR (Landstar System, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Integrated Freight & Logistics industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Landstar System, Inc. provides integrated transportation management solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Transportation Logistics, and Insurance. The Transportation Logistics segment offers a range of transportation services, including truckload and less-than-truckload transportation, rail intermodal, air cargo, ocean cargo, expedited ground and air delivery of time-critical freight, heavy-haul/specialized, U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico cross-border, intra-Mexico, intra-Canada, project cargo, and customs brokerage, as well as offers transportation services to other transportation companies, such as third party logistics, small package and less-than-truckload service providers. It provides truck services through dry and specialty vans of various sizes, unsided/platform trailers, temperature-controlled vans, and containers; rail intermodal services through contracts with domestic and Canadian railroads; and air and ocean services through contracts with domestic and international airlines and ocean lines. This segment serves the automotive parts and assemblies, consumer durables, building products, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs, heavy machinery, retail, electronics, and military equipment industries. The Insurance segment reinsures certain risks of the company's independent contractors.
LSTR (Landstar System, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Integrated Freight & Logistics, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.94B, a trailing P/E of 47.77, a beta of 0.85 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 119.32-195.84, average daily share volume of 489K, a public-listing history dating back to 1993, approximately 1K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how LSTR stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.85 places LSTR roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 47.77 is on the rich side, which tends to correlate with higher earnings-window IV expansion as the market debates whether forward growth supports the multiple. LSTR pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a straddle on LSTR?
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 LSTR snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $176.70, ATM IV 38.20%, IV rank 48.15%, expected move 10.95%. The straddle on LSTR 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 LSTR specifically: LSTR IV at 38.20% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.95% (roughly $19.35 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 LSTR expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on LSTR should anchor to the underlying notional of $176.70 per share and to the trader's directional view on LSTR stock.
LSTR straddle setup
The LSTR 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 LSTR near $176.70, the first option leg uses a $175.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed LSTR 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 LSTR shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $175.00 | $8.70 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $175.00 | $7.60 |
LSTR straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$1,630.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$1,548.29
- Breakeven(s)
- $158.70, $191.30
- 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.
LSTR straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on LSTR. 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.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | +$15,869.00 |
| $39.08 | -77.9% | +$11,962.18 |
| $78.15 | -55.8% | +$8,055.35 |
| $117.21 | -33.7% | +$4,148.53 |
| $156.28 | -11.6% | +$241.70 |
| $195.35 | +10.6% | +$405.12 |
| $234.42 | +32.7% | +$4,311.94 |
| $273.49 | +54.8% | +$8,218.77 |
| $312.56 | +76.9% | +$12,125.59 |
| $351.62 | +99.0% | +$16,032.42 |
When traders use straddle on LSTR
Straddles on LSTR are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy LSTR straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
LSTR thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for LSTR extends from approximately $157.35 on the downside to $196.05 on the upside. A LSTR 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 LSTR IV rank near 48.15% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the straddle thesis on LSTR should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Industrials name, LSTR options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to LSTR-specific events.
LSTR 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. LSTR positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move LSTR alongside the broader basket even when LSTR-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current LSTR chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on LSTR?
- A straddle on LSTR is the straddle strategy applied to LSTR (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 LSTR stock trading near $176.70, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed LSTR chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are LSTR 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 LSTR straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 38.20%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$1,548.29 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a LSTR straddle?
- The breakeven for the LSTR straddle priced on this page is roughly $158.70 and $191.30 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 LSTR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 10.95%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on LSTR?
- Straddles on LSTR are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy LSTR 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 LSTR implied volatility affect this straddle?
- LSTR ATM IV is at 38.20% with IV rank near 48.15%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.