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N. Käfer: Options on Drugs: Industry Exposure and Option Anomalies

May 8, 2025

On average, writing options on pharmaceutical stocks yields higher returns than writing options on stocks in any other industry. The exposure to options on pharmaceuticals helps explain the persistent returns of delta-hedged option strategies, such as sorting options based on corporate cash holdings. Pharmaceutical stocks exhibit high growth potential and unique lottery features related to drug trials and development, leading to increased demand for their option contracts. Furthermore, the biotechnology bubble of the early 2000s inhibits common option risk factors from fully capturing the returns of pharmaceutical options.

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