MCRI Bull Call Spread Strategy
MCRI (Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc.), in the Consumer Cyclical sector, (Gambling, Resorts & Casinos industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc., through its subsidiaries, owns and operates the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, a hotel and casino in Reno, Nevada. The company also owns and operates the Monarch Casino Resort Spa Black Hawk in Black Hawk, Colorado. As of December 31, 2021, its Atlantis Casino Resort Spa featured approximately 61,000 square feet of casino space; 818 guest rooms and suites; 8 food outlets; 2 gourmet coffee and pastry bars; a 30,000 square-foot health spa and salon with an enclosed pool; 2 retail outlets offering clothing and gift shop merchandise; an 8,000 square-foot family entertainment center; and approximately 52,000 square feet of banquet, convention, and meeting room space. The company's Atlantis Casino Resort Spa also featured approximately 1,400 slot and video poker machines; approximately 37 table games, including blackjack, craps, roulette, and others; a race and sports book; a 24-hour live keno lounge; and a poker room. In addition, its Monarch Casino Resort Spa Black Hawk featured approximately 60,000 square feet of casino space; approximately 1,100 slot machines; approximately 40 table games; 10 bars and lounges; 4 dining options; 516 guest rooms and suites; banquet and meeting room space; a retail store; a concierge lounge; an upscale spa and pool facility; and a nine-story parking structure with approximately 1,350 spaces, as well as valet parking with a total parking capacity to approximately 1,500 spaces. The company was founded in 1972 and is based in Reno, Nevada.
MCRI (Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc.) trades in the Consumer Cyclical sector, specifically Gambling, Resorts & Casinos, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.06B, a trailing P/E of 18.99, a beta of 1.36 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 80.4-120.91, average daily share volume of 135K, a public-listing history dating back to 1993, approximately 3K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MCRI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.36 indicates MCRI has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. MCRI pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a bull call spread on MCRI?
A bull call spread buys an at-the-money call and sells an out-of-the-money call at a higher strike for defined risk and defined reward bounded by the strike width.
Current MCRI snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $118.06, ATM IV 28.00%, IV rank 3.90%, expected move 8.03%. The bull call spread on MCRI 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 bull call spread structure on MCRI specifically: MCRI IV at 28.00% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a MCRI bull call spread, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 8.03% (roughly $9.48 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 MCRI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MCRI should anchor to the underlying notional of $118.06 per share and to the trader's directional view on MCRI stock.
MCRI bull call spread setup
The MCRI bull call spread below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With MCRI near $118.06, the first option leg uses a $120.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MCRI 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 MCRI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $120.00 | $3.00 |
| Sell 1 | Call | $125.00 | $1.32 |
MCRI bull call spread risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$168.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $332.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$168.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $121.68
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.976
Max profit equals strike width minus net debit times 100; max loss equals net debit times 100. Breakeven is long-call strike plus net debit.
MCRI bull call spread payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the bull call spread on MCRI. 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% | -$168.00 |
| $26.11 | -77.9% | -$168.00 |
| $52.22 | -55.8% | -$168.00 |
| $78.32 | -33.7% | -$168.00 |
| $104.42 | -11.6% | -$168.00 |
| $130.52 | +10.6% | +$332.00 |
| $156.63 | +32.7% | +$332.00 |
| $182.73 | +54.8% | +$332.00 |
| $208.83 | +76.9% | +$332.00 |
| $234.93 | +99.0% | +$332.00 |
When traders use bull call spread on MCRI
Bull call spreads on MCRI reduce the cost of a bullish MCRI stock position by selling a higher-strike call; suited to moderate-move theses where price reaches but does not vastly exceed the short strike.
MCRI thesis for this bull call spread
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MCRI extends from approximately $108.58 on the downside to $127.54 on the upside. A MCRI bull call spread caps both the risk and the reward of a bullish position; relative to an outright long call on MCRI, the spread reduces the cost basis but limits the maximum profit to the strike width minus net debit. Current MCRI 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 MCRI at 28.00%. As a Consumer Cyclical name, MCRI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MCRI-specific events.
MCRI bull call spread positions are structurally moderately bullish; 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. MCRI positions also carry Consumer Cyclical sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MCRI alongside the broader basket even when MCRI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a bull call spread on MCRI are particularly exposed to IV-crush risk through scheduled events (earnings, FDA decisions, central-bank meetings) where IV typically contracts post-event regardless of the directional outcome. Always rebuild the position from current MCRI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a bull call spread on MCRI?
- A bull call spread on MCRI is the bull call spread strategy applied to MCRI (stock). The strategy is structurally moderately bullish: A bull call spread buys an at-the-money call and sells an out-of-the-money call at a higher strike for defined risk and defined reward bounded by the strike width. With MCRI stock trading near $118.06, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MCRI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MCRI bull call spread max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals strike width minus net debit times 100; max loss equals net debit times 100. Breakeven is long-call strike plus net debit. For the MCRI bull call spread priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 28.00%), the computed maximum profit is $332.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$168.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a MCRI bull call spread?
- The breakeven for the MCRI bull call spread priced on this page is roughly $121.68 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 MCRI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 8.03%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a bull call spread on MCRI?
- Bull call spreads on MCRI reduce the cost of a bullish MCRI stock position by selling a higher-strike call; suited to moderate-move theses where price reaches but does not vastly exceed the short strike.
- How does current MCRI implied volatility affect this bull call spread?
- MCRI ATM IV is at 28.00% 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.