PLRX Straddle Strategy
PLRX (Pliant Therapeutics, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes novel therapies for the treatment of fibrosis and related diseases in the United States. Its lead product candidate is PLN-74809, an oral small-molecule dual selective inhibitor of avß6 and avß1 integrins, which is in three Phase 2a trials. The company also develops PLN-1474, a small-molecule selective inhibitor of avß1, which completed Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of liver fibrosis associated with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. In addition, it is developing two additional preclinical integrin-based programs, which include an oncology program, as well as a program for an allosteric agonistic monoclonal antibody against an undisclosed integrin receptor for treatment of muscular dystrophies, including duchenne muscular dystrophy. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is based in South San Francisco, California.
PLRX (Pliant Therapeutics, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $72.4M, a beta of 1.21 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 1.09-1.95, average daily share volume of 537K, a public-listing history dating back to 2020, approximately 171 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how PLRX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.21 places PLRX roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a straddle on PLRX?
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 PLRX snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $1.13, ATM IV 20.90%, IV rank 0.08%, expected move 5.99%. The straddle on PLRX 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 PLRX specifically: PLRX IV at 20.90% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a PLRX straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.99% (roughly $0.07 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 PLRX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on PLRX should anchor to the underlying notional of $1.13 per share and to the trader's directional view on PLRX stock.
PLRX straddle setup
The PLRX 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 PLRX near $1.13, the first option leg uses a $1.13 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed PLRX 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 PLRX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $1.13 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $1.13 | N/A |
PLRX 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.
PLRX straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on PLRX. 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 PLRX
Straddles on PLRX are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy PLRX straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
PLRX thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for PLRX extends from approximately $1.06 on the downside to $1.20 on the upside. A PLRX 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 PLRX IV rank near 0.08% 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 PLRX at 20.90%. As a Healthcare name, PLRX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to PLRX-specific events.
PLRX 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. PLRX positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move PLRX alongside the broader basket even when PLRX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current PLRX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on PLRX?
- A straddle on PLRX is the straddle strategy applied to PLRX (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 PLRX stock trading near $1.13, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed PLRX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are PLRX 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 PLRX straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 20.90%), 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 PLRX straddle?
- The breakeven for the PLRX 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 PLRX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 5.99%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on PLRX?
- Straddles on PLRX are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy PLRX 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 PLRX implied volatility affect this straddle?
- PLRX ATM IV is at 20.90% with IV rank near 0.08%, 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.