MDGL Straddle Strategy
MDGL (Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutic candidates for the treatment of cardiovascular, metabolic, and liver diseases. Its lead product candidate is resmetirom, a liver-directed selective thyroid hormone receptor-ß agonist, which is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. The company also develops MGL-3745, a backup compound to resmetirom. It has research, development, and commercialization agreement with Hoffmann-La Roche. Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is headquartered in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
MDGL (Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $11.96B, a beta of -1.05 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 265-615, average daily share volume of 349K, a public-listing history dating back to 2007, approximately 528 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MDGL stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -1.05 indicates MDGL has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.
What is a straddle on MDGL?
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 MDGL snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $526.50, ATM IV 42.90%, IV rank 13.39%, expected move 12.30%. The straddle on MDGL 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 MDGL specifically: MDGL IV at 42.90% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a MDGL straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 12.30% (roughly $64.75 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 MDGL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MDGL should anchor to the underlying notional of $526.50 per share and to the trader's directional view on MDGL stock.
MDGL straddle setup
The MDGL 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 MDGL near $526.50, the first option leg uses a $530.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MDGL 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 MDGL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $530.00 | $26.30 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $530.00 | $29.10 |
MDGL straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$5,540.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$5,455.07
- Breakeven(s)
- $474.60, $585.40
- 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.
MDGL straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on MDGL. 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% | +$47,459.00 |
| $116.42 | -77.9% | +$35,817.90 |
| $232.83 | -55.8% | +$24,176.81 |
| $349.24 | -33.7% | +$12,535.71 |
| $465.65 | -11.6% | +$894.62 |
| $582.06 | +10.6% | -$333.52 |
| $698.48 | +32.7% | +$11,307.57 |
| $814.89 | +54.8% | +$22,948.67 |
| $931.30 | +76.9% | +$34,589.76 |
| $1,047.71 | +99.0% | +$46,230.86 |
When traders use straddle on MDGL
Straddles on MDGL are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy MDGL straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
MDGL thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MDGL extends from approximately $461.75 on the downside to $591.25 on the upside. A MDGL 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 MDGL IV rank near 13.39% 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 MDGL at 42.90%. As a Healthcare name, MDGL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MDGL-specific events.
MDGL 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. MDGL positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MDGL alongside the broader basket even when MDGL-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current MDGL chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on MDGL?
- A straddle on MDGL is the straddle strategy applied to MDGL (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 MDGL stock trading near $526.50, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MDGL chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MDGL 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 MDGL straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 42.90%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$5,455.07 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a MDGL straddle?
- The breakeven for the MDGL straddle priced on this page is roughly $474.60 and $585.40 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 MDGL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 12.30%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on MDGL?
- Straddles on MDGL are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy MDGL 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 MDGL implied volatility affect this straddle?
- MDGL ATM IV is at 42.90% with IV rank near 13.39%, 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.