XOM Bear Put Spread Strategy
XOM (Exxon Mobil Corporation), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Integrated industry), listed on NYSE.
Exxon Mobil Corporation is a global energy firm that undertakes the exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas resources across its domestic operations and international territories. The company organizes its vast activities into three primary divisions: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemical. Beyond resource acquisition, Exxon Mobil is deeply engaged in the manufacturing, commercial trading, logistical transportation, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas, refined petroleum goods, a wide array of petrochemicals (including olefins, polyolefins, and aromatics), and other specialized chemical products. Furthermore, the company is actively developing solutions in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and biofuels. As of December 31, 2021, the corporation maintained approximately 20,528 net operational wells with verified reserves. Founded in 1870, Exxon Mobil's corporate headquarters are located in Irving, Texas.
XOM (Exxon Mobil Corporation) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Integrated, with a market capitalization of approximately $565.95B, a trailing P/E of 22.56, a beta of 0.15 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 105.53-176.41, average daily share volume of 19.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 1978, approximately 61K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how XOM stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.15 indicates XOM has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. XOM pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a bear put spread on XOM?
A bear put spread buys an at-the-money put and sells an out-of-the-money put at a lower strike for defined risk and defined reward bounded by the strike width.
Current XOM snapshot
As of June 30, 2026, spot at $136.26, ATM IV 28.63%, IV rank 59.62%, expected move 8.21%. The bear put spread on XOM 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 bear put spread structure on XOM specifically: XOM IV at 28.63% 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 8.21% (roughly $11.19 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 XOM expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on XOM should anchor to the underlying notional of $136.26 per share and to the trader's directional view on XOM stock.
XOM bear put spread setup
The XOM bear put spread below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With XOM near $136.26, the first option leg uses a $135.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed XOM 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 XOM shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Put | $135.00 | $3.63 |
| Sell 1 | Put | $130.00 | $1.85 |
XOM bear put spread risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$178.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $322.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$178.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $133.22
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.809
Max profit equals strike width minus net debit times 100; max loss equals net debit times 100. Breakeven is long-put strike minus net debit.
XOM bear put spread payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the bear put spread on XOM. 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% | +$322.00 |
| $30.14 | -77.9% | +$322.00 |
| $60.26 | -55.8% | +$322.00 |
| $90.39 | -33.7% | +$322.00 |
| $120.52 | -11.6% | +$322.00 |
| $150.64 | +10.6% | -$178.00 |
| $180.77 | +32.7% | -$178.00 |
| $210.90 | +54.8% | -$178.00 |
| $241.02 | +76.9% | -$178.00 |
| $271.15 | +99.0% | -$178.00 |
When traders use bear put spread on XOM
Bear put spreads on XOM reduce the cost of a bearish XOM stock position by selling a lower-strike put; suited to moderate-decline theses where price reaches but does not vastly exceed the short strike.
XOM thesis for this bear put spread
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for XOM extends from approximately $125.07 on the downside to $147.45 on the upside. A XOM bear put spread caps both the risk and the reward of a bearish position; relative to an outright long put on XOM, the spread reduces the cost basis but limits the maximum profit to the strike width minus net debit. Current XOM IV rank near 59.62% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the bear put spread thesis on XOM should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Energy name, XOM options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to XOM-specific events.
XOM bear put spread positions are structurally moderately bearish; 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. XOM positions also carry Energy sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move XOM alongside the broader basket even when XOM-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a bear put spread on XOM are particularly exposed to IV-crush risk through scheduled events (earnings, FDA decisions, central-bank meetings) where IV typically contracts post-event regardless of the directional outcome. Always rebuild the position from current XOM chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a bear put spread on XOM?
- A bear put spread on XOM is the bear put spread strategy applied to XOM (stock). The strategy is structurally moderately bearish: A bear put spread buys an at-the-money put and sells an out-of-the-money put at a lower strike for defined risk and defined reward bounded by the strike width. With XOM stock trading near $136.26, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed XOM chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are XOM bear put spread max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals strike width minus net debit times 100; max loss equals net debit times 100. Breakeven is long-put strike minus net debit. For the XOM bear put spread priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 28.63%), the computed maximum profit is $322.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$178.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a XOM bear put spread?
- The breakeven for the XOM bear put spread priced on this page is roughly $133.22 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 XOM market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 8.21%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a bear put spread on XOM?
- Bear put spreads on XOM reduce the cost of a bearish XOM stock position by selling a lower-strike put; suited to moderate-decline theses where price reaches but does not vastly exceed the short strike.
- How does current XOM implied volatility affect this bear put spread?
- XOM ATM IV is at 28.63% with IV rank near 59.62%, 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.