NAUT Straddle Strategy
NAUT (Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc., a development stage life sciences company, engages in creating a platform technology for quantifying and unlocking the complexity of the proteome. It develops Nautilus Platform, a proteomics platform that includes end-to-end solution comprised of instruments, consumables, and software analysis. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
NAUT (Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $374.9M, a beta of 0.75 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 0.62-4.31, average daily share volume of 334K, a public-listing history dating back to 2020, approximately 134 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how NAUT stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.75 places NAUT roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a straddle on NAUT?
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 NAUT snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $2.51, ATM IV 121.90%, IV rank 21.39%, expected move 34.95%. The straddle on NAUT 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 NAUT specifically: NAUT IV at 121.90% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a NAUT straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 34.95% (roughly $0.88 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 NAUT expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on NAUT should anchor to the underlying notional of $2.51 per share and to the trader's directional view on NAUT stock.
NAUT straddle setup
The NAUT 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 NAUT near $2.51, the first option leg uses a $2.51 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed NAUT 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 NAUT shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $2.51 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $2.51 | N/A |
NAUT straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
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.
NAUT straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on NAUT. 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.
When traders use straddle on NAUT
Straddles on NAUT are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy NAUT straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
NAUT thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for NAUT extends from approximately $1.63 on the downside to $3.39 on the upside. A NAUT 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 NAUT IV rank near 21.39% 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 NAUT at 121.90%. As a Healthcare name, NAUT options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to NAUT-specific events.
NAUT 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. NAUT positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move NAUT alongside the broader basket even when NAUT-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current NAUT chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on NAUT?
- A straddle on NAUT is the straddle strategy applied to NAUT (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 NAUT stock trading near $2.51, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed NAUT chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are NAUT 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 NAUT straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 121.90%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a NAUT straddle?
- The breakeven for the NAUT straddle priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 NAUT market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 34.95%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on NAUT?
- Straddles on NAUT are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy NAUT 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 NAUT implied volatility affect this straddle?
- NAUT ATM IV is at 121.90% with IV rank near 21.39%, 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.