Stepan Company (SCL) Volatility Skew
Implied volatility skew shows how IV varies across strike prices for a given expiration. Steeper skews indicate higher demand for downside protection relative to upside speculation.
Stepan Company (SCL) operates in the Basic Materials sector, specifically the Chemicals - Specialty industry, with a market capitalization near $1.15B, listed on NYSE, employing roughly 2,396 people, carrying a beta of 0.95 to the broader market. Stepan Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells specialty and intermediate chemicals to other manufacturers for use in various end products. Led by Luis E. Rojo, public since 1992-03-17.
Snapshot as of May 15, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $49.30
- ATM IV
- 270.3%
- IV Skew 25Δ
- -0.112
- IV Rank
- 86.4%
- IV Percentile
- 98.8%
- Term Structure Slope
- -0.158
As of May 15, 2026, Stepan Company (SCL) at-the-money implied volatility is 270.3%. IV rank is 86.4% (where 0% is the 52-week low and 100% is the 52-week high). IV percentile is 98.8%. The 25-delta skew is -0.112: puts carry meaningful premium over calls, a classic equity downside-protection skew. High IV rank typically favors premium-selling strategies; low IV rank favors premium-buying.
SCL Strategy Selection at Current Volatility Levels
For Stepan Company options at 270.3% ATM IV, high IV rank (86.4%) favors premium-selling structures: credit spreads, iron condors, covered calls, cash-secured puts. The risk: a continued vol expansion through high-rank levels is rare but expensive when it happens. The 25-delta skew is meaningfully put-skewed, so put-credit spreads capture more premium for the same width than call-credit spreads. Pair the vol-rank read with the dealer-gamma view and the upcoming-events calendar to confirm the strategy fits both the structural regime and the path-dependent risk. The variance risk premium - the persistent gap between implied and subsequently realized vol - is positive in equity markets on average; high IV rank typically reflects a stretch where the premium is wider than usual.
Learn how volatility skew is reported and how to read the data →
SCL highest implied-volatility contracts
| Type | Strike | Expiration | Volume | OI | IV | Bid | Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CALL | $50.00 | Jun 18, 2026 | 0 | 176 | 507.5% | $0.10 | $5.00 |
Top 1 contracts from the ORATS-sourced nightly scan; ranked by iv within the broader S&P 500/400/600 + ETF universe.
Frequently asked SCL volatility skew questions
- What is the current SCL ATM implied volatility?
- As of May 15, 2026, Stepan Company (SCL) at-the-money implied volatility is 270.3%. IV rank is 86.4% on a 0-100% scale anchored to the 1-year IV range. ATM IV is the volatility input that makes a Black-Scholes-equivalent model reproduce the listed at-the-money option prices.
- Is SCL IV high or low historically?
- IV is elevated relative to its 1-year history, conditions that typically favor premium-selling strategies (credit spreads, iron condors, covered calls).
- What does SCL volatility skew tell options traders?
- Volatility skew is the pattern by which IV varies across strikes for a given expiration. Stepan Company carries the typical equity downside-protection skew: 25-delta puts price meaningfully richer than 25-delta calls. Skew matters for risk-defined strategy selection: when downside puts are rich, put-credit spreads capture more premium; when upside calls are rich, call-credit spreads or covered-call writes harvest more.