COHU Strangle Strategy
COHU (Cohu, Inc.), in the Technology sector, (Semiconductors industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Cohu, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides semiconductor test equipment and services in China, the United States, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and internationally. The company supplies semiconductor test and inspection handlers, micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) test modules, test contactors, thermal sub-systems, and semiconductor automated test equipment for semiconductor and electronics manufacturers, and test subcontractors. It also provides semiconductor automated test equipment for wafer level and device package testing; various test handlers, including pick-and-place, turret, gravity, strip, and MEMS and thermal sub-systems; interface products comprising test contactors, and probe heads and pins; spares and kits; various parts and labor warranties on test and handling systems, and instruments; and training on the maintenance and operation of its systems, as well as application, data management software, and consulting services on its products. In addition, the company offers data analytics product that includes DI-Core, a software suite used to optimize Cohu equipment performance, which provides real-time online performance monitoring and process control. It markets its products through direct sales force and independent sales representatives. The company was formerly known as Cohu Electronics, Inc. and changed its name to Cohu, Inc. in 1972.
COHU (Cohu, Inc.) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Semiconductors, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.32B, a beta of 1.61 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 16.46-52.43, average daily share volume of 1.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 1980, approximately 3K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how COHU stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.61 indicates COHU has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position.
What is a strangle on COHU?
A long strangle buys an OTM call and an OTM put at offset strikes, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger underlying move to profit since both wings start out-of-the-money.
Current COHU snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $47.20, ATM IV 70.70%, IV rank 24.45%, expected move 20.27%. The strangle on COHU 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 strangle structure on COHU specifically: COHU IV at 70.70% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a COHU strangle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 20.27% (roughly $9.57 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 COHU expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on COHU should anchor to the underlying notional of $47.20 per share and to the trader's directional view on COHU stock.
COHU strangle setup
The COHU strangle below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With COHU near $47.20, the first option leg uses a $49.56 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed COHU 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 COHU shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $49.56 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $44.84 | N/A |
COHU strangle 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
Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit.
COHU strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on COHU. 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 strangle on COHU
Strangles on COHU are the cheaper cousin of the straddle - traders use them when they want a large directional move but are willing to give up the inner-strike sensitivity in exchange for a lower up-front debit on the COHU chain.
COHU thesis for this strangle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for COHU extends from approximately $37.63 on the downside to $56.77 on the upside. A COHU long strangle is the OTM cousin of the straddle: lower up-front cost but the underlying has to travel further past either OTM strike before the position turns profitable at expiration. Current COHU IV rank near 24.45% 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 COHU at 70.70%. As a Technology name, COHU options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to COHU-specific events.
COHU strangle positions are structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium, OTM); 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. COHU positions also carry Technology sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move COHU alongside the broader basket even when COHU-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current COHU chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on COHU?
- A strangle on COHU is the strangle strategy applied to COHU (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium, OTM): A long strangle buys an OTM call and an OTM put at offset strikes, cheaper than a straddle but requiring a larger underlying move to profit since both wings start out-of-the-money. With COHU stock trading near $47.20, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed COHU chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are COHU strangle max profit and max loss calculated?
- Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the put strike minus the combined debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached anywhere between the two OTM strikes). Two breakevens at call-strike plus debit and put-strike minus debit. For the COHU strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 70.70%), 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 COHU strangle?
- The breakeven for the COHU strangle 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 COHU market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 20.27%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a strangle on COHU?
- Strangles on COHU are the cheaper cousin of the straddle - traders use them when they want a large directional move but are willing to give up the inner-strike sensitivity in exchange for a lower up-front debit on the COHU chain.
- How does current COHU implied volatility affect this strangle?
- COHU ATM IV is at 70.70% with IV rank near 24.45%, 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.