TEM Straddle Strategy
TEM (Tempus AI, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Healthcare Information Services industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Tempus AI, Inc. operates as a healthcare technology company in the United States. It offers the Tempus platform, a closed-loop, full-stack, bi-directional integrations between a clinician's desktop and its laboratory diagnostic capabilities, analytics platform, and repository of multimodal data; and Hub, a clinical application for physicians and other healthcare providers for use in the diagnostics product line as an end-to-end application for healthcare providers for NGS tests. The company also provides Lens, a software application for life sciences and advanced precision research; diagnostics services, such as NGS diagnostics, PCR profiling, and other anatomic and molecular pathology tests; and large-panel solid tumor and hematologic testing through multiple assays, with its core clinical assay (xT and xR) offering large panel DNA, RNA full transcriptome, and incidental germline findings through normal blood or saliva analyses. In addition, it provides genetic tests focused on inherited conditions; an nP assay for pharmacogenomic testing for patients with psychiatric conditions, including depression, general anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, and other relevant diagnoses; Insights, which licenses libraries of linked, de-identified clinical, molecular, and imaging data; Organoids, a tumor derived biological modeling. Further, the company offers Trials for clinical trial matching services; Next, an AI platform; Algos, an algorithm-based diagnostics application. It has Strategic Collaborations with AstraZeneca AB, Pathos AI, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, and Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
TEM (Tempus AI, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Healthcare Information Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $9.80B, a beta of 3.62 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 41.73-104.32, average daily share volume of 6.5M, a public-listing history dating back to 2024, approximately 4K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how TEM stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 3.62 indicates TEM has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position.
What is a straddle on TEM?
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 TEM snapshot
As of June 30, 2026, spot at $58.61, ATM IV 77.71%, IV rank 52.35%, expected move 22.28%. The straddle on TEM 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 31-day expiry.
Why this straddle structure on TEM specifically: TEM IV at 77.71% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 22.28% (roughly $13.06 on the underlying). The 31-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated TEM expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on TEM should anchor to the underlying notional of $58.61 per share and to the trader's directional view on TEM stock.
TEM straddle setup
The TEM 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 TEM near $58.61, the first option leg uses a $59.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed TEM chain at a 31-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 TEM shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $59.00 | $5.80 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $59.00 | $4.60 |
TEM straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$1,040.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$1,030.95
- Breakeven(s)
- $48.60, $69.40
- 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.
TEM straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on TEM. 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 | -100.0% | +$4,859.00 |
| $12.97 | -77.9% | +$3,563.21 |
| $25.93 | -55.8% | +$2,267.42 |
| $38.88 | -33.7% | +$971.63 |
| $51.84 | -11.5% | -$324.16 |
| $64.80 | +10.6% | -$460.06 |
| $77.76 | +32.7% | +$835.73 |
| $90.72 | +54.8% | +$2,131.52 |
| $103.67 | +76.9% | +$3,427.31 |
| $116.63 | +99.0% | +$4,723.10 |
When traders use straddle on TEM
Straddles on TEM are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy TEM straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
TEM thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for TEM extends from approximately $45.55 on the downside to $71.67 on the upside. A TEM 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 TEM IV rank near 52.35% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the straddle thesis on TEM should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, TEM options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to TEM-specific events.
TEM 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. TEM positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move TEM alongside the broader basket even when TEM-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current TEM chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on TEM?
- A straddle on TEM is the straddle strategy applied to TEM (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 TEM stock trading near $58.61, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed TEM chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are TEM 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 TEM straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 77.71%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$1,030.95 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a TEM straddle?
- The breakeven for the TEM straddle priced on this page is roughly $48.60 and $69.40 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 TEM market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 22.28%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on TEM?
- Straddles on TEM are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy TEM 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 TEM implied volatility affect this straddle?
- TEM ATM IV is at 77.71% with IV rank near 52.35%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.