AUB Bear Put Spread Strategy
AUB (Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation), in the Financial Services sector, (Banks - Regional industry), listed on NYSE.
Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation operates as the holding company for Atlantic Union Bank that provides banking and related financial services to consumers and businesses. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, NOW, time deposit, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; and other depository services. It also provides loans for commercial, industrial, residential mortgage, and consumer purposes. In addition, the company offers credit cards, automated teller machine (ATM) services, mobile and internet banking services, and online bill payment services, as well as financial planning, trust, and wealth management services. Further, it provides securities, brokerage, and investment advisory products and services; and originates and sells residential loan products in the secondary market. As of February 25, 2022, it operated 130 branches and approximately 150 ATMs in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina.
AUB (Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Banks - Regional, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.22B, a trailing P/E of 14.94, a beta of 0.80 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 28.11-42.18, average daily share volume of 1.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 1993, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how AUB stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.80 places AUB roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. AUB 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 AUB?
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 AUB snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $36.48, ATM IV 24.10%, IV rank 1.60%, expected move 6.91%. The bear put spread on AUB 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 34-day expiry.
Why this bear put spread structure on AUB specifically: AUB IV at 24.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a AUB bear put spread, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 6.91% (roughly $2.52 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated AUB expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on AUB should anchor to the underlying notional of $36.48 per share and to the trader's directional view on AUB stock.
AUB bear put spread setup
The AUB 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 AUB near $36.48, the first option leg uses a $36.48 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed AUB chain at a 34-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 AUB shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Put | $36.48 | N/A |
| Sell 1 | Put | $34.66 | N/A |
AUB bear put spread 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
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.
AUB bear put spread payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the bear put spread on AUB. 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 bear put spread on AUB
Bear put spreads on AUB reduce the cost of a bearish AUB stock position by selling a lower-strike put; suited to moderate-decline theses where price reaches but does not vastly exceed the short strike.
AUB thesis for this bear put spread
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for AUB extends from approximately $33.96 on the downside to $39.00 on the upside. A AUB bear put spread caps both the risk and the reward of a bearish position; relative to an outright long put on AUB, the spread reduces the cost basis but limits the maximum profit to the strike width minus net debit. Current AUB IV rank near 1.60% 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 AUB at 24.10%. As a Financial Services name, AUB options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to AUB-specific events.
AUB 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. AUB positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move AUB alongside the broader basket even when AUB-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a bear put spread on AUB 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 AUB chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a bear put spread on AUB?
- A bear put spread on AUB is the bear put spread strategy applied to AUB (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 AUB stock trading near $36.48, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed AUB chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are AUB 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 AUB bear put spread priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 24.10%), 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 AUB bear put spread?
- The breakeven for the AUB bear put spread 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 AUB market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 6.91%; 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 AUB?
- Bear put spreads on AUB reduce the cost of a bearish AUB 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 AUB implied volatility affect this bear put spread?
- AUB ATM IV is at 24.10% with IV rank near 1.60%, 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.