SMMT Straddle Strategy
SMMT (Summit Therapeutics Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Summit Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines to treat infectious diseases in the United States and Latin America. It conducts clinical programs focusing on Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). The company's lead product candidate is ridinilazole, an orally administered small molecule antibiotic that is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of CDI. It also offers SMT-738, for combating multidrug resistant infections primarily carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections; and DDS-04 series for the potential treatment of infections caused by the Enterobacteriaceae. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
SMMT (Summit Therapeutics Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $14.57B, a beta of -1.26 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 13.83-30.98, average daily share volume of 3.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 2015, approximately 159 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how SMMT stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -1.26 indicates SMMT has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.
What is a straddle on SMMT?
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 SMMT snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $16.87, ATM IV 155.30%, IV rank 92.31%, expected move 44.52%. The straddle on SMMT 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 28-day expiry.
Why this straddle structure on SMMT specifically: SMMT IV at 155.30% is rich versus its 1-year range, which makes a premium-buying SMMT straddle relatively expensive in absolute-cost terms, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 44.52% (roughly $7.51 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated SMMT expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on SMMT should anchor to the underlying notional of $16.87 per share and to the trader's directional view on SMMT stock.
SMMT straddle setup
The SMMT 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 SMMT near $16.87, the first option leg uses a $17.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed SMMT chain at a 28-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 SMMT shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $17.00 | $2.98 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $17.00 | $3.00 |
SMMT straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$597.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$593.47
- Breakeven(s)
- $11.03, $22.98
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- Unbounded
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.
SMMT straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on SMMT. 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.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -99.9% | +$1,101.50 |
| $3.74 | -77.8% | +$728.61 |
| $7.47 | -55.7% | +$355.71 |
| $11.20 | -33.6% | -$17.18 |
| $14.93 | -11.5% | -$390.08 |
| $18.65 | +10.6% | -$432.03 |
| $22.38 | +32.7% | -$59.13 |
| $26.11 | +54.8% | +$313.76 |
| $29.84 | +76.9% | +$686.66 |
| $33.57 | +99.0% | +$1,059.55 |
When traders use straddle on SMMT
Straddles on SMMT are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy SMMT straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
SMMT thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for SMMT extends from approximately $9.36 on the downside to $24.38 on the upside. A SMMT 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 SMMT IV rank near 92.31% sits in the upper third of its 1-year distribution, which historically reverts; this raises the bar for premium-buying structures and lowers it for premium-selling structures on SMMT at 155.30%. As a Healthcare name, SMMT options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to SMMT-specific events.
SMMT 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. SMMT positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move SMMT alongside the broader basket even when SMMT-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current SMMT chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on SMMT?
- A straddle on SMMT is the straddle strategy applied to SMMT (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 SMMT stock trading near $16.87, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed SMMT chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are SMMT 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 SMMT straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 155.30%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$593.47 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a SMMT straddle?
- The breakeven for the SMMT straddle priced on this page is roughly $11.03 and $22.98 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 SMMT market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 44.52%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on SMMT?
- Straddles on SMMT are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy SMMT 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 SMMT implied volatility affect this straddle?
- SMMT ATM IV is at 155.30% with IV rank near 92.31%, which is elevated relative to its 1-year range. Premium-selling structures (covered call, cash-secured put, iron condor) generally look more attractive when IV rank is high; premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are more expensive in that regime.