WERN Straddle Strategy

WERN (Werner Enterprises, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Trucking industry), listed on NASDAQ.

Werner Enterprises, Inc., a transportation and logistics company, engages in transporting truckload shipments of general commodities in interstate and intrastate commerce in the United States, Mexico, and internationally. It operates through Truckload Transportation Services and Werner Logistics segments. The Truckload Transportation Services segment operates medium-to-long-haul van fleet that transports various consumer nondurable products and other commodities in truckload quantities using dry van trailers; the expedited fleet, which offers time-sensitive truckload services using driver teams; regional short-haul fleet that provides comparable truckload van service in the United States; and temperature controlled fleet, which offers truckload services for temperature sensitive products using temperature-controlled trailers. It transports retail store merchandise, consumer products, food and beverage products, and manufactured products. The Werner Logistics segment provides non-asset-based transportation and logistics services, including truck brokerage; logistics management services and solutions; rail transportation through alliances with rail and drayage providers; and residential and commercial deliveries of large or heavy items using liftgate straight truck. As of December 31, 2021, the company had a fleet of 8,340 trucks, which included 8,050 company-operated, as well as 290 owned and operated by independent contractors;27,225 company-owned trailers that comprised dry vans, flatbeds, temperature-controlled, and other trailers; and 55 intermodal drayage trucks.

WERN (Werner Enterprises, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Trucking, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.07B, a beta of 1.24 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 23.06-38.46, average daily share volume of 1.1M, a public-listing history dating back to 1986, approximately 13K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how WERN stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 1.24 places WERN roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. WERN pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a straddle on WERN?

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 WERN snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $37.45, ATM IV 50.10%, IV rank 8.27%, expected move 14.36%. The straddle on WERN 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 34-day expiry.

Why this straddle structure on WERN specifically: WERN IV at 50.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a WERN straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 14.36% (roughly $5.38 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated WERN expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on WERN should anchor to the underlying notional of $37.45 per share and to the trader's directional view on WERN stock.

WERN straddle setup

The WERN 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 WERN near $37.45, the first option leg uses a $37.45 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed WERN chain at a 34-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 WERN shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$37.45	N/A
Buy 1	Put	$37.45	N/A

WERN straddle risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: N/A
Max Profit (per contract): Unbounded
Max Loss (per contract): Unbounded
Breakeven(s): None on modeled curve
Risk / Reward Ratio: N/A

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.

WERN straddle payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on WERN. 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.

When traders use straddle on WERN

Straddles on WERN are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy WERN straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.

WERN thesis for this straddle

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for WERN extends from approximately $32.07 on the downside to $42.83 on the upside. A WERN 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 WERN IV rank near 8.27% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on WERN at 50.10%. As a Industrials name, WERN options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to WERN-specific events.

WERN 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. WERN positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move WERN alongside the broader basket even when WERN-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current WERN chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a straddle on WERN?: A straddle on WERN is the straddle strategy applied to WERN (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 WERN stock trading near $37.45, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed WERN chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are WERN 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 WERN straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 50.10%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a WERN straddle?: The breakeven for the WERN straddle priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 WERN market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 14.36%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a straddle on WERN?: Straddles on WERN are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy WERN 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 WERN implied volatility affect this straddle?: WERN ATM IV is at 50.10% with IV rank near 8.27%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.