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Stock volatility: is this stock's option cheap or rich?

An IV of 32% is high for one stock and low for another. The only fair comparison is with the stock's own history and with the movement it is actually delivering. This page does both, for every F&O name, on one screen.

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The question it answers

Is the volatility priced into this stock's options unusual — for this stock, right now?

Implied volatility is a price. Like any price it only means something in context: against its own range over the past year, and against how much the stock has really been moving. The Stock Volatility page lines up those comparisons in one table, sorted by IV rank by default, and lets you click any row for a one-year chart of implied against realised volatility.

If you want the deeper, surface-level view of a single name, Vol Lab covers it — see Vol Lab's stock overview. This page is the fast, market-wide scan inside the Options app.

Stock Volatility: the market-read summary cards above a table of ATM IV, IV rank, IV percentile, realised vol, 25-delta skew and a 1-year IV sparkline.
Stock Volatility: the market-read summary cards above a table of ATM IV, IV rank, IV percentile, realised vol, 25-delta skew and a 1-year IV sparkline.

How each number is built

ColumnDefinition
ATM IV (live)Solved with Black-76 from the call and put at the strike nearest the front-month future, from the latest minute
Close IVSame definition, median of 15:10–15:25 IST on the last session
Δ IVLive ATM IV minus the previous close, in vol points
IV Rank(IV − 1-year low) ÷ (1-year high − 1-year low) × 100
IV %ileShare of the last 252 sessions with a lower ATM IV
RV10 / RV20 / RV30Annualised standard deviation of daily log returns over 10, 20 and 30 sessions
IV − RV20The volatility risk premium in vol points; positive means options price more movement than the stock has delivered
25Δ Call / PutIV interpolated at call delta 0.25 and put delta −0.25 from the live chain
Skew25Δ put IV minus 25Δ call IV; positive means downside protection is bid

The front month rolls to the next one inside four days of expiry, so the number does not collapse into expiry-week noise. Indices use their nearest expiry with at least four days left. Rank and percentile need at least 20 sessions of history and show n/a until then. If no near-the-money option has traded today, the live column falls back to the close IV and says so.

IV rank vs IV percentile

They sound alike and disagree often. Rank only looks at the extremes; one spike in the past year drags the high up and makes every later reading look low. Percentile counts days, so it is harder to distort with a single event.

Hypothetical stock: over the past year ATM IV ranged from 18% to 48%, and today it is 33%.

Rank says "middle of the range"; percentile says "higher than four days in five". The 48% spike came from one results day. Percentile is telling the truer story here, and the sparkline next to the row shows you why.

Implied vs realised, and skew

Continue the example: RV20 is 25%. IV − RV20 = 33 − 25 = +8 vol points. Options are pricing noticeably more movement than the stock has given over the last month. That gap is normal — option sellers demand a premium — but its size relative to the stock's own history is what matters, which is what the IV vs RV chart on row click shows.

Now skew: 25Δ put IV 36%, 25Δ call IV 30% → skew +6. Downside protection is costing more than upside participation. A negative skew — calls bid over puts — is less common in single stocks and usually worth a second look at the news.

The summary strip above the table gives the market-wide picture: median IV rank, median RV20, how many names sit at rank ≥ 70 or ≤ 30, and how many have puts versus calls bid.

Common mistakes

Where to find it

  1. Open Options Analytics → Stocks → Stock Volatility.
  2. Use the chips — All, Indices, IV Rank ≥ 70, IV Rank ≤ 30 — or type a symbol.
  3. Sort any column; click a row for the one-year IV vs RV chart.

The table refreshes every minute while open. To turn a volatility view into a sized expected move, pair it with the Stocks ATM Straddle page.

Common questions

What is the difference between IV rank and IV percentile?

IV rank places today's IV between the one-year low (0) and high (100). IV percentile is the share of the last 252 sessions with a lower IV. One spike distorts rank more than percentile.

How is ATM IV calculated on this page?

With the Black-76 model from the call and put at the strike nearest the front-month future, rolling to the next month inside four days of expiry.

What does a positive IV minus RV20 mean?

Options are pricing more movement than the stock has delivered over the last 20 sessions. It is the volatility risk premium, measured in vol points.

What does 25-delta skew measure?

The IV of the 25-delta put minus the IV of the 25-delta call. Positive values mean downside protection costs more than upside calls.

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