WNC Straddle Strategy
WNC (Wabash National Corporation), in the Industrials sector, (Agricultural - Machinery industry), listed on NYSE.
Wabash National Corporation (WNC) specializes in the engineering, manufacturing, and supply of diverse solutions for the transportation, logistics, and distribution industries, primarily serving the United States market. The company operates through two distinct divisions: Transportation Solutions and Parts & Services. The Transportation Solutions segment delivers a wide array of products, including various trailer types such such as dry van, platform, and refrigerated models, along with converter dollies. This division also produces an assortment of truck bodies for applications like dry-freight, commercial cutaway, service, insulated, stake, and refrigerated hauling, in addition to offering used trailers and laminated hardwood oak flooring. Moreover, it fabricates specialized tank trailers from stainless steel, aluminum, and fiberglass-reinforced polymer, designed for transporting dairy products, food, beverages, oil, gas, chemicals, and dry bulk goods. The Parts & Services segment concentrates on aftermarket support, providing components and services such as door repair, collision repair, and routine maintenance.
WNC (Wabash National Corporation) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Agricultural - Machinery, with a market capitalization of approximately $571.5M, a beta of 1.54 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 6.63-14.32, average daily share volume of 823K, a public-listing history dating back to 1991, approximately 6K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how WNC stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.54 indicates WNC has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. WNC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a straddle on WNC?
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 WNC snapshot
As of June 29, 2026, spot at $13.87, ATM IV 68.70%, IV rank 11.33%, expected move 19.70%. The straddle on WNC 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 WNC specifically: WNC IV at 68.70% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a WNC straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 19.70% (roughly $2.73 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 WNC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on WNC should anchor to the underlying notional of $13.87 per share and to the trader's directional view on WNC stock.
WNC straddle setup
The WNC 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 WNC near $13.87, the first option leg uses a $13.87 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed WNC 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 WNC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $13.87 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $13.87 | N/A |
WNC 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.
WNC straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on WNC. 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 WNC
Straddles on WNC are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy WNC straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
WNC thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for WNC extends from approximately $11.14 on the downside to $16.60 on the upside. A WNC 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 WNC IV rank near 11.33% 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 WNC at 68.70%. As a Industrials name, WNC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to WNC-specific events.
WNC 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. WNC positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move WNC alongside the broader basket even when WNC-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current WNC chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on WNC?
- A straddle on WNC is the straddle strategy applied to WNC (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 WNC stock trading near $13.87, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed WNC chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are WNC 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 WNC straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 68.70%), 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 WNC straddle?
- The breakeven for the WNC 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 WNC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 19.70%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on WNC?
- Straddles on WNC are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy WNC 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 WNC implied volatility affect this straddle?
- WNC ATM IV is at 68.70% with IV rank near 11.33%, 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.