PGEN Straddle Strategy
PGEN (Precigen, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Precigen, Inc. discovers and develops the next generation of gene and cellular therapies in the United States. It also provides disease-modifying therapeutics; genetically engineered swine for regenerative medicine applications; and reproductive and embryo transfer technologies. In addition, the company offers UltraVector platform that incorporates advanced DNA construction technologies and computational models to design and assemble genetic components into complex gene expression programs; mbIL15, a gene that enhances functional characteristics of immune cells; Sleeping Beauty, a non-viral transposon/transposase system; AttSite recombinases, which breaks and rejoins DNA at specific sequences; AdenoVerse technology platform, a library of engineered adenovector serotypes; and L. lactis is a food-grade bacterium. Additionally, it provides RheoSwitch, an inducible gene switch system that provides quantitative dose-proportionate regulation of the amount and timing of target protein expression; kill switches to selectively eliminate cell therapies in vivo; tissue-specific promoters; UltraCAR-T platform for the treatment of cancer; AdenoVerse Immunotherapy, a library of proprietary adenovectors for the gene delivery; and ActoBiotics platform, genetically modified bacteria that deliver proteins and peptides at mucosal sites. Precigen, Inc. has collaboration and license agreements with Alaunos Therapeutics, Inc.; Ares Trading S.A.; Oragenics, Inc.; Castle Creek Biosciences, Inc.; Intrexon Energy Partners, LLC; and Intrexon Energy Partners II, LLC. The company was formerly known as Intrexon Corporation and changed its name to Precigen, Inc. in January 2020.
PGEN (Precigen, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.25B, a beta of 1.07 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 1.26-5.47, average daily share volume of 4.5M, a public-listing history dating back to 2013, approximately 143 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how PGEN stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.07 places PGEN roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a straddle on PGEN?
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 PGEN snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $4.46, ATM IV 63.10%, IV rank 3.39%, expected move 18.09%. The straddle on PGEN 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 PGEN specifically: PGEN IV at 63.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a PGEN straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 18.09% (roughly $0.81 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 PGEN expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on PGEN should anchor to the underlying notional of $4.46 per share and to the trader's directional view on PGEN stock.
PGEN straddle setup
The PGEN 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 PGEN near $4.46, the first option leg uses a $4.46 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed PGEN 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 PGEN shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $4.46 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $4.46 | N/A |
PGEN 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.
PGEN straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on PGEN. 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 PGEN
Straddles on PGEN are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy PGEN straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
PGEN thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for PGEN extends from approximately $3.65 on the downside to $5.27 on the upside. A PGEN 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 PGEN IV rank near 3.39% 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 PGEN at 63.10%. As a Healthcare name, PGEN options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to PGEN-specific events.
PGEN 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. PGEN positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move PGEN alongside the broader basket even when PGEN-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current PGEN chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on PGEN?
- A straddle on PGEN is the straddle strategy applied to PGEN (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 PGEN stock trading near $4.46, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed PGEN chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are PGEN 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 PGEN straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 63.10%), 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 PGEN straddle?
- The breakeven for the PGEN 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 PGEN market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 18.09%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on PGEN?
- Straddles on PGEN are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy PGEN 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 PGEN implied volatility affect this straddle?
- PGEN ATM IV is at 63.10% with IV rank near 3.39%, 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.