UHS Straddle Strategy
UHS (Universal Health Services, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Care Facilities industry), listed on NYSE.
Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS), operating through its various divisions, is a healthcare entity that both owns and manages a network of acute care hospitals, along with outpatient and specialized behavioral health treatment centers. Its business operations are strategically bifurcated into two main segments: Acute Care Hospital Services and Behavioral Health Care Services. The hospitals under its management provide a comprehensive spectrum of medical provisions, encompassing general and specialty surgical interventions, internal medicine, obstetrics, urgent and emergency department services, diagnostic imaging (radiology), cancer therapy (oncology), advanced diagnostic procedures, cardiac care, pediatric medicine, pharmaceutical services, and mental health support. As of a reported date of February 24, 2022, the company's significant presence included the ownership or operation of 363 inpatient facilities, complemented by 40 outpatient and other specialized sites. These facilities are distributed across 39 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico. Beyond direct patient care, UHS also extends into commercial health insurance provision and offers a variety of crucial management support functions.
UHS (Universal Health Services, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Care Facilities, with a market capitalization of approximately $9.12B, a trailing P/E of 5.85, a beta of 1.08 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 140.08-246.33, average daily share volume of 967K, a public-listing history dating back to 1981, approximately 78K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how UHS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.08 places UHS roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 5.85 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price. UHS pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a straddle on UHS?
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 UHS snapshot
As of June 29, 2026, spot at $147.40, ATM IV 34.40%, IV rank 35.05%, expected move 9.86%. The straddle on UHS 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 18-day expiry.
Why this straddle structure on UHS specifically: UHS IV at 34.40% 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 9.86% (roughly $14.54 on the underlying). The 18-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated UHS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on UHS should anchor to the underlying notional of $147.40 per share and to the trader's directional view on UHS stock.
UHS straddle setup
The UHS 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 UHS near $147.40, the first option leg uses a $145.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed UHS chain at a 18-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 UHS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $145.00 | $5.20 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $145.00 | $3.50 |
UHS straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$870.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$851.70
- Breakeven(s)
- $136.30, $153.70
- 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.
UHS straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on UHS. 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% | +$13,629.00 |
| $32.60 | -77.9% | +$10,370.02 |
| $65.19 | -55.8% | +$7,111.03 |
| $97.78 | -33.7% | +$3,852.05 |
| $130.37 | -11.6% | +$593.06 |
| $162.96 | +10.6% | +$925.92 |
| $195.55 | +32.7% | +$4,184.91 |
| $228.14 | +54.8% | +$7,443.89 |
| $260.73 | +76.9% | +$10,702.88 |
| $293.32 | +99.0% | +$13,961.86 |
When traders use straddle on UHS
Straddles on UHS are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy UHS straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
UHS thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for UHS extends from approximately $132.86 on the downside to $161.94 on the upside. A UHS 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 UHS IV rank near 35.05% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the straddle thesis on UHS should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, UHS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to UHS-specific events.
UHS 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. UHS positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move UHS alongside the broader basket even when UHS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current UHS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on UHS?
- A straddle on UHS is the straddle strategy applied to UHS (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 UHS stock trading near $147.40, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed UHS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are UHS 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 UHS straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 34.40%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$851.70 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a UHS straddle?
- The breakeven for the UHS straddle priced on this page is roughly $136.30 and $153.70 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 UHS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 9.86%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on UHS?
- Straddles on UHS are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy UHS 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 UHS implied volatility affect this straddle?
- UHS ATM IV is at 34.40% with IV rank near 35.05%, 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.