COP Long Put Strategy
COP (ConocoPhillips), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry), listed on NYSE.
ConocoPhillips is an energy company that engages in the global exploration, production, transportation, and marketing of various resources, including crude petroleum, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its primary operations are centered on both conventional and tight oil formations, shale gas, heavy crude, LNG developments, and oil sands projects. The company's extensive portfolio includes unconventional resources located in North America; established conventional assets spanning North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; numerous LNG ventures; oil sands properties within Canada; and a significant inventory of potential conventional and unconventional exploration opportunities. ConocoPhillips was established in 1917 and its corporate headquarters are situated in Houston, Texas.
COP (ConocoPhillips) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, with a market capitalization of approximately $155.09B, a trailing P/E of 16.64, a beta of 0.12 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 85.57-135.87, average daily share volume of 7.7M, a public-listing history dating back to 1981, approximately 10K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how COP stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.12 indicates COP has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. COP pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a long put on COP?
A long put buys downside exposure with a fixed maximum loss equal to the premium paid; profit accrues if the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration.
COP snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $126.41, ATM IV 27.43%, IV rank 23.17%, expected move 7.87%. The long put on COP below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 28-day expiry.
Why this long put structure on COP specifically: COP IV at 27.43% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a COP long put, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 7.87% (roughly $9.94 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated COP expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on COP should anchor to the underlying notional of $126.41 per share and to the trader's directional view on COP stock.
COP long put setup
The COP long put below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With COP at $126.41 on that close, the first option leg uses a $126.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed COP chain at a 28-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 COP shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Put | $126.00 | $3.83 |
COP long put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$382.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $12,216.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$382.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $122.18
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 31.939
Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium.
COP long put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the long put on COP. 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.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | +$12,216.50 |
| $27.96 | -77.9% | +$9,421.62 |
| $55.91 | -55.8% | +$6,626.73 |
| $83.86 | -33.7% | +$3,831.85 |
| $111.81 | -11.6% | +$1,036.96 |
| $139.75 | +10.6% | -$382.50 |
| $167.70 | +32.7% | -$382.50 |
| $195.65 | +54.8% | -$382.50 |
| $223.60 | +76.9% | -$382.50 |
| $251.55 | +99.0% | -$382.50 |
When traders use long put on COP
Long puts on COP hedge an existing long COP stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying COP exposure being hedged.
COP thesis for this long put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for COP extends from approximately $116.47 on the downside to $136.35 on the upside. A COP long put expresses a directional view that the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration, frequently sized to hedge an existing long COP position with one put per 100 shares held. Current COP IV rank near 23.17% 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 COP at 27.43%. As a Energy name, COP options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to COP-specific events.
COP long put positions are structurally 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. COP positions also carry Energy sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move COP alongside the broader basket even when COP-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a long put on COP 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 COP chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a long put on COP?
- A long put on COP is the long put strategy applied to COP (stock). The strategy is structurally bearish: A long put buys downside exposure with a fixed maximum loss equal to the premium paid; profit accrues if the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration. With COP stock at $126.41 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed COP chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are COP long put max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium. For the COP long put priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 27.43%), the computed maximum profit is $12,216.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$382.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a COP long put?
- The breakeven for the COP long put priced on this page is roughly $122.18 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The COP market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 7.87%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a long put on COP?
- Long puts on COP hedge an existing long COP stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying COP exposure being hedged.
- How does current COP implied volatility affect this long put?
- COP ATM IV is at 27.43% with IV rank near 23.17%, 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.