PG&E Corporation (PCG) Expected Move
Expected move estimates the probable price range for a given period based on at-the-money options pricing. It reflects the market consensus for volatility over the selected timeframe.
PG&E Corporation (PCG) operates in the Utilities sector, specifically the Regulated Electric industry, with a market capitalization near $46.58B, listed on NYSE, employing roughly 29,010 people, carrying a beta of 0.28 to the broader market. PG&E Corporation operates as a holding company, overseeing the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity and natural gas to its clientele. Led by Patricia Kessler Poppe, public since 1972-06-01.
Snapshot as of Aug 14, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $17.80
- Expected Move
- 15.1%
- Implied High
- $20.50
- Implied Low
- $15.10
- Front DTE
- 28 days
As of Aug 14, 2026, PG&E Corporation (PCG) has an expected move of 15.14%, a one-standard-deviation implied price range of roughly $15.10 to $20.50 from the current $17.80. Expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market's pricing of a ±1σ move. Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within this range under lognormal assumptions, though empirical markets have fatter tails.
PCG Strategy Sizing to the Expected Move
With PG&E Corporation pricing an expected move of 15.14% from $17.80, risk-defined strategies sized to the implied range structurally target the modal outcome distribution. Iron condors with wings at the ±1σ expected move boundaries collect premium against the ~68% probability that spot stays inside the range under lognormal assumptions; strangles set wider at ±1.5σ or ±2σ target the tails but pay smaller per-trade premium. Long-vol structures (long straddles, ratio backspreads) profit when realized move exceeds the implied move, the inverse trade: they bet against the lognormal assumption itself, capitalizing on the empirically fatter equity-return tails.
How to read the PCG implied-range chart
The shaded range above shows the one-standard-deviation implied price band at each listed expiration, derived from ATM implied volatility scaled to days-to-expiration. The front-tenor expected move is 15.14%, anchoring an implied range of approximately $15.10 to $20.50. Under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside that band; 95% fall inside ±2σ; 99.7% inside ±3σ. The empirical equity-return distribution has fatter tails than lognormal, so true tail-outcome frequency is moderately higher than these closed-form numbers suggest.
PCG expected move and event pricing
Expected move widens with √time: a 5% 30-day move corresponds to roughly a 2.5% 7.5-day move and a 10% 120-day move. PCG term-structure is in backwardation (slope -0.024), so near-dated tenors price in disproportionate vol - usually because of a known event in the front-month window. Combined with the 72.1% IV rank, the implied move is meaningfully wider than the typical PCG trailing range, so even premium-selling structures need wide wings to absorb the elevated regime.
Sizing PCG structures to the expected move
Iron condors with wings at ±1σ collect the modal-outcome premium; ±1.5σ widens probability of inside-range to ~87% but cuts collected premium roughly in half. Strangles do the inverse trade - they pay against the same lognormal distribution, profiting when realized exceeds implied. Calendar spreads bet on the slope of the term structure rather than the level. PCG put/call volume ratio currently at 0.24 indicates speculative call flow dominates - look for upside-skewed sentiment. The expected move is the inputs the chain is pricing, not a forecast - realized moves above or below are normal under any distribution.
Learn how expected move is reported and how to read the data →
Per-expiration expected move for PCG derived from ATM implied volatility at each listed expiration. Implied high/low bounds are computed as $17.80 × (1 ± expected move %). One standard-deviation range under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside.
| Expiration | DTE | ATM IV | Expected Move | Implied High | Implied Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2026 | 7 | 50.6% | 7.0% | $19.05 | $16.55 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 14 | 54.2% | 10.6% | $19.69 | $15.91 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 21 | 57.9% | 13.9% | $20.27 | $15.33 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 28 | 53.6% | 14.8% | $20.44 | $15.16 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 35 | 51.2% | 15.9% | $20.62 | $14.98 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 42 | 48.2% | 16.4% | $20.71 | $14.89 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 49 | 45.1% | 16.5% | $20.74 | $14.86 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 63 | 42.7% | 17.7% | $20.96 | $14.64 |
| Dec 18, 2026 | 126 | 37.8% | 22.2% | $21.75 | $13.85 |
| Jan 15, 2027 | 154 | 36.0% | 23.4% | $21.96 | $13.64 |
| Mar 19, 2027 | 217 | 34.8% | 26.8% | $22.58 | $13.02 |
| Jun 17, 2027 | 307 | 34.2% | 31.4% | $23.38 | $12.22 |
| Jan 21, 2028 | 525 | 33.6% | 40.3% | $24.97 | $10.63 |
PCG highest implied-volatility contracts
| Type | Strike | Expiration | Volume | OI | IV | Bid | Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CALL | $20.00 | Sep 18, 2026 | 4.5K | 298.1K | 53.9% | $0.41 | $0.47 |
| CALL | $19.00 | Sep 18, 2026 | 5.3K | 147.6K | 51.4% | $0.64 | $0.74 |
| CALL | $25.00 | Sep 18, 2026 | 510 | 145.2K | 65.3% | $0.05 | $0.13 |
| CALL | $24.00 | Sep 18, 2026 | 5.8K | 144.0K | 61.7% | $0.08 | $0.14 |
| CALL | $23.00 | Sep 18, 2026 | 5.0K | 103.3K | 59.4% | $0.11 | $0.15 |
| CALL | $22.00 | Sep 18, 2026 | 185 | 95.9K | 57.6% | $0.16 | $0.21 |
| CALL | $21.00 | Sep 18, 2026 | 173 | 89.3K | 55.6% | $0.27 | $0.34 |
| CALL | $18.00 | Sep 18, 2026 | 1.5K | 58.7K | 51.2% | $1.01 | $1.13 |
Top 8 contracts from the institutional-grade nightly options scan; ranked by iv within the broader S&P 500/400/600 + ETF universe.
Frequently asked PCG expected move questions
- What is the current PCG expected move?
- As of Aug 14, 2026, PG&E Corporation (PCG) has an expected move of 15.14% over the next 28 days, implying a one-standard-deviation price range of $15.10 to $20.50 from the current $17.80. The expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market consensus for a ±1σ price move.
- What does the PCG expected move mean for traders?
- Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within ±1 expected move and 95% within ±2 under lognormal assumptions, though equity returns have empirically fatter tails than log-normal predicts. Strategies sized to the expected move (iron condors at ±1σ, strangles at ±1.5σ) target the typical outcome distribution; strategies that profit from tail moves (long-vol structures, ratio backspreads) target the tails the lognormal model under-prices.
- How is PCG expected move calculated?
- The expected move displayed here is derived from at-the-money implied volatility scaled to the chosen tenor: expected move % is approximately ATM IV times sqrt(T / 365), where T is days to expiration. An equivalent straddle-based form: the ATM straddle (call + put at the same strike) is roughly sqrt(2/pi) times spot times IV times sqrt(T/365), so the implied one-standard-deviation move is approximately 1.25 times ATM straddle divided by spot. The two formulations agree once the sqrt(2/pi) constant is reconciled.