CTSO Collar Strategy
CTSO (Cytosorbents Corporation), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Devices industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Cytosorbents Corporation engages in the research, development, and commercialization of medical devices with its blood purification technology platform incorporating a proprietary adsorbent and porous polymer technology. Its flagship product is CytoSorb, an extracorporeal cytokine filter for adjunctive therapy in the treatment of sepsis, adjunctive therapy in other critical care applications, prevention and treatment of perioperative complications of cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, and maintaining or enhancing the quality of solid organs harvested from donors for organ transplant. The company also develops VetResQ, a device for adjunctive therapy in the treatment of sepsis, pancreatitis, and other critical illnesses in animals; CytoSorb-XL, a device for adjunctive therapy in the treatment of sepsis and other critical illnesses; HemoDefend blood purification technology platform to reduce contaminants in the blood supply that can cause transfusion reactions or disease when administering blood and blood products to patients, as well as removal of anti-A and anti-B blood group antibodies from fresh whole blood and plasma; K+ontrol for treatment of severe hyperkalemia in patients with life-threatening conditions; and ContrastSorb for the removal of IV contrast in blood administered during CT imaging, an angiogram, or during a vascular interventional radiology procedure to reduce the risk of contrast-induced nephropathy. In addition, it is involved in the development of BetaSorb, a device for the prevention and treatment of health complications caused by the accumulation of metabolic toxins in patients with chronic renal failure; DrugSorb, a device to remove toxic chemicals from the blood; and DrugSorb-ATR, an antithrombotic removal system. The company was formerly known as MedaSorb Technologies Corporation and changed its name to Cytosorbents Corporation in May 2010. Cytosorbents Corporation was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.
CTSO (Cytosorbents Corporation) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Devices, with a market capitalization of approximately $35.8M, a beta of 1.44 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 0.499-1.39, average daily share volume of 80K, a public-listing history dating back to 2006, approximately 149 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CTSO stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.44 indicates CTSO 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 collar on CTSO?
A collar pairs long stock with a protective out-of-the-money put financed by a short out-of-the-money call, capping both tails of the position around the current spot.
Current CTSO snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $0.50, ATM IV 32.10%, IV rank 3.45%, expected move 9.20%. The collar on CTSO 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 collar structure on CTSO specifically: IV regime affects collar pricing on both sides; compressed CTSO IV at 32.10% typically pushes the short call premium to roughly offset the long put cost, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.20% (roughly $0.05 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 CTSO expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CTSO should anchor to the underlying notional of $0.50 per share and to the trader's directional view on CTSO stock.
CTSO collar setup
The CTSO collar below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With CTSO near $0.50, the first option leg uses a $0.53 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CTSO 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 CTSO shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $0.50 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $0.53 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $0.48 | N/A |
CTSO collar 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 roughly equals short-call strike minus cost basis plus net premium; max loss roughly equals cost basis minus long-put strike minus net premium. Breakeven shifts by the net premium.
CTSO collar payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the collar on CTSO. 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 collar on CTSO
Collars on CTSO hedge an existing long CTSO stock position; the long put sets a floor while the short call finances it, often run as a near-zero-cost hedge during expected volatility windows.
CTSO thesis for this collar
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CTSO extends from approximately $0.45 on the downside to $0.55 on the upside. A CTSO collar hedges an existing long CTSO position with a protective put while financing the put cost via a short call; when the premiums roughly offset, the collar acts as a near-zero-cost insurance band around the current spot. Current CTSO IV rank near 3.45% 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 CTSO at 32.10%. As a Healthcare name, CTSO options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CTSO-specific events.
CTSO collar positions are structurally neutral (protective); 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. CTSO positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CTSO alongside the broader basket even when CTSO-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current CTSO chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a collar on CTSO?
- A collar on CTSO is the collar strategy applied to CTSO (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral (protective): A collar pairs long stock with a protective out-of-the-money put financed by a short out-of-the-money call, capping both tails of the position around the current spot. With CTSO stock trading near $0.50, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CTSO chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CTSO collar max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit roughly equals short-call strike minus cost basis plus net premium; max loss roughly equals cost basis minus long-put strike minus net premium. Breakeven shifts by the net premium. For the CTSO collar priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 32.10%), 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 CTSO collar?
- The breakeven for the CTSO collar 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 CTSO market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 9.20%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a collar on CTSO?
- Collars on CTSO hedge an existing long CTSO stock position; the long put sets a floor while the short call finances it, often run as a near-zero-cost hedge during expected volatility windows.
- How does current CTSO implied volatility affect this collar?
- CTSO ATM IV is at 32.10% with IV rank near 3.45%, 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.