PRTS Straddle Strategy
PRTS (CarParts.com, Inc.), in the Consumer Cyclical sector, (Specialty Retail industry), listed on NASDAQ.
CarParts.com, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an online provider of aftermarket auto parts and accessories in the United States and the Philippines. It offers replacement parts, such as parts for the exterior of an automobile; mirror products; engine and chassis components, as well as other mechanical and electrical parts; and performance parts and accessories to individual consumers through its network of e-commerce websites and online marketplaces. The company also sells auto parts to collision repair shops; markets Kool-Vue products to auto parts wholesale distributors; and aftermarket catalytic converters under the Evan Fischer brand. Its flagship websites include www.carparts.com, www.jcwhitney.com, www.autopartswarehouse.com and www.usautoparts.com. The company was formerly known as U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc. and changed its name to CarParts.com, Inc. in July 2020.
PRTS (CarParts.com, Inc.) trades in the Consumer Cyclical sector, specifically Specialty Retail, with a market capitalization of approximately $50.7M, a beta of 0.84 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 0.37-1.36, average daily share volume of 662K, a public-listing history dating back to 2007, approximately 1K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how PRTS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.84 places PRTS roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a straddle on PRTS?
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 PRTS snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $0.68, ATM IV 30.50%, IV rank 4.43%, expected move 8.74%. The straddle on PRTS 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 PRTS specifically: PRTS IV at 30.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a PRTS straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 8.74% (roughly $0.06 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 PRTS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on PRTS should anchor to the underlying notional of $0.68 per share and to the trader's directional view on PRTS stock.
PRTS straddle setup
The PRTS 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 PRTS near $0.68, the first option leg uses a $0.68 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed PRTS 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 PRTS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $0.68 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $0.68 | N/A |
PRTS 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.
PRTS straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on PRTS. 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 PRTS
Straddles on PRTS are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy PRTS straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
PRTS thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for PRTS extends from approximately $0.62 on the downside to $0.74 on the upside. A PRTS 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 PRTS IV rank near 4.43% 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 PRTS at 30.50%. As a Consumer Cyclical name, PRTS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to PRTS-specific events.
PRTS 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. PRTS positions also carry Consumer Cyclical sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move PRTS alongside the broader basket even when PRTS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current PRTS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on PRTS?
- A straddle on PRTS is the straddle strategy applied to PRTS (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 PRTS stock trading near $0.68, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed PRTS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are PRTS 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 PRTS straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 30.50%), 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 PRTS straddle?
- The breakeven for the PRTS 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 PRTS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 8.74%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on PRTS?
- Straddles on PRTS are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy PRTS 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 PRTS implied volatility affect this straddle?
- PRTS ATM IV is at 30.50% with IV rank near 4.43%, 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.