MOH Straddle Strategy
MOH (Molina Healthcare, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Healthcare Plans industry), listed on NYSE.
Molina Healthcare, Inc. provides managed health care services to low-income families and individuals under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplaces. It operates in four segments, Medicaid, Medicare, Marketplace, and Other. As of December 31, 2021, the company served the company served approximately 5.2 million members eligible for Medicaid, Medicare, and other government-sponsored healthcare programs in 18 states. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.
MOH (Molina Healthcare, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Healthcare Plans, with a market capitalization of approximately $10.00B, a trailing P/E of 52.08, a beta of 0.85 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 121.06-327.68, average daily share volume of 1.6M, a public-listing history dating back to 2003, approximately 18K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MOH stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.85 places MOH roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 52.08 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.
What is a straddle on MOH?
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 MOH snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $184.94, ATM IV 42.20%, IV rank 26.75%, expected move 12.10%. The straddle on MOH 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 MOH specifically: MOH IV at 42.20% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a MOH straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 12.10% (roughly $22.37 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 MOH expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MOH should anchor to the underlying notional of $184.94 per share and to the trader's directional view on MOH stock.
MOH straddle setup
The MOH 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 MOH near $184.94, the first option leg uses a $185.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MOH 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 MOH shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $185.00 | $10.05 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $185.00 | $9.25 |
MOH straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$1,930.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$1,842.57
- Breakeven(s)
- $165.70, $204.30
- 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.
MOH straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on MOH. 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% | +$16,569.00 |
| $40.90 | -77.9% | +$12,479.98 |
| $81.79 | -55.8% | +$8,390.97 |
| $122.68 | -33.7% | +$4,301.95 |
| $163.57 | -11.6% | +$212.94 |
| $204.46 | +10.6% | +$16.08 |
| $245.35 | +32.7% | +$4,105.09 |
| $286.24 | +54.8% | +$8,194.11 |
| $327.13 | +76.9% | +$12,283.12 |
| $368.02 | +99.0% | +$16,372.14 |
When traders use straddle on MOH
Straddles on MOH are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy MOH straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
MOH thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MOH extends from approximately $162.57 on the downside to $207.31 on the upside. A MOH 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 MOH IV rank near 26.75% 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 MOH at 42.20%. As a Healthcare name, MOH options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MOH-specific events.
MOH 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. MOH positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MOH alongside the broader basket even when MOH-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current MOH chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on MOH?
- A straddle on MOH is the straddle strategy applied to MOH (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 MOH stock trading near $184.94, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MOH chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MOH 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 MOH straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 42.20%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$1,842.57 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a MOH straddle?
- The breakeven for the MOH straddle priced on this page is roughly $165.70 and $204.30 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 MOH market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 12.10%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on MOH?
- Straddles on MOH are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy MOH 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 MOH implied volatility affect this straddle?
- MOH ATM IV is at 42.20% with IV rank near 26.75%, 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.