Every check before you trade an earnings event — on one printable page
Earnings Trade Checklist: Key Rules
The complete pre-earnings checklist on one page: gauge IV rank and the expected move, decide buy vs sell premium, size the position, and set exit rules before the report.
On this page
Earnings Trade Checklist
A decision card for trading an earnings event with options: check IV rank and the implied volatility crush risk, compare the option-implied expected move to the stock's historical earnings moves, choose whether to buy or sell premium, size small, and define your exit before the report drops.
Print it, pin it, and never get caught by IV crush again.
Quick answer
Check IV rank first — high IV favors selling premium, low IV favors buying. Compare the expected move to historical earnings moves. Long options lose 30-60 points of IV overnight to the crush. Size small, define your exit before the report, and never bet more than you can lose on a binary event.
Before an earnings trade, compare the options-implied move to the stock's historical earnings moves — the implied move is the bar your position must clear.
The Pre-Earnings Checklist
- ✅ Check IV rank. High IV rank → favor selling premium. Low IV rank → favor buying. Use the IV calculator.
- ✅ Get the expected move. Read it from the ATM straddle on the expected move calculator.
- ✅ Compare to history. Is the implied move bigger or smaller than the stock's past earnings moves?
- ✅ Model the IV crush. If you are buying, check how much the crush will cost — typically 30-60 IV points overnight.
- ✅ Pick the structure. Defined risk into a binary event. Spreads and condors over naked options.
- ✅ Size small & set the exit. Define max loss before the report. Never bet more than you can lose on a gap.
Buy vs Sell Premium
| Condition | Lean | Structures |
|---|---|---|
| IV rank high, move overpriced | Sell premium | Iron condor, credit spread, short strangle |
| IV rank low, move underpriced | Buy premium | Long straddle, debit spread |
| Directional conviction | Defined-risk directional | Debit spread, broken wing butterfly |
| No edge | Skip it | Wait for a setup with an edge |
The single most common mistake is buying a cheap-looking option into high IV and watching the crush erase it even though the stock moved your way.
The Golden Rule
Earnings are binary. The expected move tells you what is already priced in; your job is to take the side that is mispriced relative to history — or to pass. Size every earnings trade so a maximum-loss gap is survivable.
Run the numbers before you trade. Earnings & event move ranges from straddle pricing. Free, no signup. Or model any multi-leg trade in the options profit calculator.
Expected Move CalculatorBest Stocks for Earnings Straddles. Where options price the biggest move, against the historical average. Live screen, updated monthly.
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Earnings verdict (get_earnings_move_analysis in an MCP client), Earnings calendar (get_earnings_calendar in an MCP client): one Bearer token, JSON back, the same tools an assistant calls through the ApexVol MCP server.
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer avmcp_YOUR_TOKEN" \
"https://apexvol.com/api/mcp/data/earnings-verdict/NVDA"Should I buy or sell the NVDA earnings straddle?
Claude calls get_earnings_move_analysisThe endpoint page has every parameter, a real captured response and a console that runs it on your ticker. Tokens come with every paid or trial plan.
- Written by
- ApexVol Research Team
Quantitative options research. All calculations use live institutional-grade data — the same source professional volatility desks use. - Reviewed by
- Ryan Silk, ApexVol Founder
Reviewed for technical accuracy. 10+ years trading options; built ApexVol's pricing engine, Greeks model and IV-rank methodology.
Revised as market conditions and institutional data change. Last revised 2026-06-12. How we research →
Questions
What people ask
about this.
Should you buy or sell options before earnings?
It depends on IV rank. When IV rank is high, premium is expensive and the post-earnings IV crush favors premium sellers (iron condors, credit spreads, short strangles). When IV rank is low, premium is cheaper and long structures (straddles, debit spreads) have a better shot. Always compare the implied expected move to the stock's historical earnings moves first.
How much do options lose to IV crush after earnings?
Implied volatility typically collapses 30-60 percentage points within hours of a release. For a short-dated at-the-money option, that can cut the price roughly in half even if the stock does not move, which is why a long option can be directionally right and still lose money. Model it on the IV crush calculator before entering.
What is the expected move for earnings?
The expected move is the magnitude of the move the options market is pricing in, derived from the at-the-money straddle price for the expiration covering the event. Compare it to the stock's actual historical earnings moves: if the implied move is much larger than past moves, premium is rich; if smaller, a long bet may be underpriced.
How should you size an earnings trade?
Small. Earnings are binary events with gap risk, so cap risk at a small fraction of the account per position and define your maximum loss before the report. Defined-risk structures (spreads, condors, defined-risk flies) are preferable to undefined-risk trades into a binary event.
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