STAAR Surgical Company (STAA) Expected Move

Expected move estimates the probable price range for a given period based on at-the-money options pricing. It reflects the market consensus for volatility over the selected timeframe.

STAAR Surgical Company (STAA) operates in the Healthcare sector, specifically the Medical - Instruments & Supplies industry, with a market capitalization near $1.46B, listed on NASDAQ, employing roughly 1,157 people, carrying a beta of 1.23 to the broader market. STAAR Surgical Company, along with its subsidiaries, specializes in ophthalmological solutions, focusing on the design, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of implantable lenses for vision correction, complete with the sophisticated delivery systems necessary for their implantation. Led by Warren Foust, public since 1992-02-24.

Snapshot as of Jun 29, 2026.

Spot Price
$29.23
Expected Move
16.2%
Implied High
$33.96
Implied Low
$24.50
Front DTE
18 days

As of Jun 29, 2026, STAAR Surgical Company (STAA) has an expected move of 16.20%, a one-standard-deviation implied price range of roughly $24.50 to $33.96 from the current $29.23. Expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market's pricing of a ±1σ move. Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within this range under lognormal assumptions, though empirical markets have fatter tails.

STAA Strategy Sizing to the Expected Move

With STAAR Surgical Company pricing an expected move of 16.20% from $29.23, risk-defined strategies sized to the implied range structurally target the modal outcome distribution. Iron condors with wings at the ±1σ expected move boundaries collect premium against the ~68% probability that spot stays inside the range under lognormal assumptions; strangles set wider at ±1.5σ or ±2σ target the tails but pay smaller per-trade premium. Long-vol structures (long straddles, ratio backspreads) profit when realized move exceeds the implied move, the inverse trade: they bet against the lognormal assumption itself, capitalizing on the empirically fatter equity-return tails.

How to read the STAA implied-range chart

The shaded range above shows the one-standard-deviation implied price band at each listed expiration, derived from ATM implied volatility scaled to days-to-expiration. The front-tenor expected move is 16.20%, anchoring an implied range of approximately $24.50 to $33.96. Under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside that band; 95% fall inside ±2σ; 99.7% inside ±3σ. The empirical equity-return distribution has fatter tails than lognormal, so true tail-outcome frequency is moderately higher than these closed-form numbers suggest.

STAA expected move and event pricing

Expected move widens with √time: a 5% 30-day move corresponds to roughly a 2.5% 7.5-day move and a 10% 120-day move. STAA term-structure is in backwardation (slope -0.017), so near-dated tenors price in disproportionate vol - usually because of a known event in the front-month window.

Sizing STAA structures to the expected move

Iron condors with wings at ±1σ collect the modal-outcome premium; ±1.5σ widens probability of inside-range to ~87% but cuts collected premium roughly in half. Strangles do the inverse trade - they pay against the same lognormal distribution, profiting when realized exceeds implied. Calendar spreads bet on the slope of the term structure rather than the level. STAA put/call volume ratio currently at 0.80 indicates balanced flow without strong directional skew. The expected move is the inputs the chain is pricing, not a forecast - realized moves above or below are normal under any distribution.

Learn how expected move is reported and how to read the data →

STAA one-standard-deviation implied price range by days-to-expiration, with current spot marked as the midpointSTAA Implied Price Range by Expiration$20$25$30$35$4020d40d60d80d100d120d140d160dDays to ExpirationImplied Price Range ($)
Shaded band shows the ±1σ implied price range (~68% probability under lognormal assumptions) at each expiration; the center line marks current spot. Bands widen with longer DTE since volatility scales with √time.

Per-expiration expected move for STAA derived from ATM implied volatility at each listed expiration. Implied high/low bounds are computed as $29.23 × (1 ± expected move %). One standard-deviation range under lognormal assumptions, roughly 68% of outcomes fall inside.

ExpirationDTEATM IVExpected MoveImplied HighImplied Low
Jul 17, 20261856.5%12.5%$32.90$25.56
Aug 21, 20265354.8%20.9%$35.33$23.13
Sep 18, 20268155.7%26.2%$36.90$21.56
Dec 18, 202617255.4%38.0%$40.35$18.11

Frequently asked STAA expected move questions

What is the current STAA expected move?
As of Jun 29, 2026, STAAR Surgical Company (STAA) has an expected move of 16.20% over the next 18 days, implying a one-standard-deviation price range of $24.50 to $33.96 from the current $29.23. The expected move is derived from at-the-money straddle pricing and represents the market consensus for a ±1σ price move.
What does the STAA expected move mean for traders?
Roughly 68% of outcomes should fall within ±1 expected move and 95% within ±2 under lognormal assumptions, though equity returns have empirically fatter tails than log-normal predicts. Strategies sized to the expected move (iron condors at ±1σ, strangles at ±1.5σ) target the typical outcome distribution; strategies that profit from tail moves (long-vol structures, ratio backspreads) target the tails the lognormal model under-prices.
How is STAA expected move calculated?
The expected move displayed here is derived from at-the-money implied volatility scaled to the chosen tenor: expected move % is approximately ATM IV times sqrt(T / 365), where T is days to expiration. An equivalent straddle-based form: the ATM straddle (call + put at the same strike) is roughly sqrt(2/pi) times spot times IV times sqrt(T/365), so the implied one-standard-deviation move is approximately 1.25 times ATM straddle divided by spot. The two formulations agree once the sqrt(2/pi) constant is reconciled.