How are MPC strangle max profit and max loss calculated?

Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit. For the MPC strangle priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 39.80%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$2,180.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a MPC strangle?

The breakeven for the MPC strangle priced on this page is roughly $318.20 and $391.80 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The MPC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 11.41%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current MPC implied volatility affect this strangle?

MPC ATM IV is at 39.80% with IV rank near 60.17%, 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.

MPC Strangle Strategy

MPC (Marathon Petroleum Corporation), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing industry), listed on NYSE.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) functions as a prominent integrated energy enterprise, primarily concentrating its downstream operations across the United States. Its business is bifurcated into two main divisions: Refining & Marketing, and Midstream. The Refining & Marketing segment is responsible for processing crude oil and various other raw materials at its refineries, strategically located in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and West Coast regions. This division also acquires refined petroleum products and ethanol for subsequent distribution. Key outputs from this segment encompass a diverse array of transportation fuels, including different gasoline blends, heavy fuel oil, and asphalt.

MPC (Marathon Petroleum Corporation) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing, with a market capitalization of approximately $101.67B, a trailing P/E of 11.85, a beta of 0.51 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 158-348.32, average daily share volume of 2.3M, a public-listing history dating back to 2011, approximately 19K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MPC stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.51 indicates MPC has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. The trailing P/E of 11.85 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price. MPC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a strangle on MPC?

A long strangle buys an OTM call and an OTM put at offset strikes, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger underlying move to profit since both wings start out-of-the-money.

MPC snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $355.47, ATM IV 39.80%, IV rank 60.17%, expected move 11.41%. The strangle on MPC below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.

Why this strangle structure on MPC specifically: MPC IV at 39.80% 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 11.41% (roughly $40.56 on the underlying). The 35-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated MPC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MPC should anchor to the underlying notional of $355.47 per share and to the trader's directional view on MPC stock.

MPC strangle setup

The MPC strangle below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With MPC at $355.47 on that close, the first option leg uses a $370.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MPC chain at a 35-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 MPC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$370.00	$11.50
Buy 1	Put	$340.00	$10.30

MPC strangle risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$2,180.00
Max Profit (per contract): Unbounded
Max Loss (per contract): -$2,180.00
Breakeven(s): $318.20, $391.80
Risk / Reward Ratio: Unbounded

Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit.

MPC strangle payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on MPC. 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%	+$31,819.00
$78.61	-77.9%	+$23,959.47
$157.20	-55.8%	+$16,099.94
$235.80	-33.7%	+$8,240.42
$314.39	-11.6%	+$380.89
$392.99	+10.6%	+$118.64
$471.58	+32.7%	+$7,978.17
$550.18	+54.8%	+$15,837.69
$628.77	+76.9%	+$23,697.22
$707.37	+99.0%	+$31,556.75

When traders use strangle on MPC

Strangles on MPC are the cheaper cousin of the straddle - traders use them when they want a large directional move but are willing to give up the inner-strike sensitivity in exchange for a lower up-front debit on the MPC chain.

MPC thesis for this strangle

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MPC extends from approximately $314.91 on the downside to $396.03 on the upside. A MPC long strangle is the OTM cousin of the straddle: lower up-front cost but the underlying has to travel further past either OTM strike before the position turns profitable at expiration. Current MPC IV rank near 60.17% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the strangle thesis on MPC should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Energy name, MPC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MPC-specific events.

MPC strangle positions are structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium, OTM); 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. MPC positions also carry Energy sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MPC alongside the broader basket even when MPC-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current MPC chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a strangle on MPC?: A strangle on MPC is the strangle strategy applied to MPC (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium, OTM): A long strangle buys an OTM call and an OTM put at offset strikes, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger underlying move to profit since both wings start out-of-the-money. With MPC stock at $355.47 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MPC chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
How are MPC strangle max profit and max loss calculated?: Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit. For the MPC strangle priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 39.80%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$2,180.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a MPC strangle?: The breakeven for the MPC strangle priced on this page is roughly $318.20 and $391.80 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The MPC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 11.41%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a strangle on MPC?: Strangles on MPC are the cheaper cousin of the straddle - traders use them when they want a large directional move but are willing to give up the inner-strike sensitivity in exchange for a lower up-front debit on the MPC chain.
How does current MPC implied volatility affect this strangle?: MPC ATM IV is at 39.80% with IV rank near 60.17%, 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.