ICUI Strangle Strategy
ICUI (ICU Medical, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Instruments & Supplies industry), listed on NASDAQ.
ICU Medical, Inc., operating globally through its subsidiaries, is a medical technology firm that specializes in the development, manufacture, and sale of devices for both infusion therapy and critical care. Their extensive product line for infusion therapy encompasses: Needlefree Connectors: Such as the MicroClave, MicroClave Clear, and NanoClave brands. Catheter Maintenance & Disinfection: Including Neutron patency devices and SwabCap/SwabTip disinfecting caps. Hemodialysis Solutions: Like Tego connectors and ClearGuard HD antimicrobial caps. Hazardous Drug Handling: With closed system transfer devices (ChemoClave, ChemoLock) and the Diana compounding system for safe preparation. They also provide a comprehensive range of intravenous (IV) solutions, diluents, and irrigation fluids, available in diverse packaging options like flexible containers and pour bottles.
ICUI (ICU Medical, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Instruments & Supplies, with a market capitalization of approximately $3.71B, a trailing P/E of 79.24, a beta of 0.78 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 107-160.29, average daily share volume of 296K, a public-listing history dating back to 1992, approximately 15K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how ICUI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.78 places ICUI roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 79.24 is on the rich side, which tends to correlate with higher earnings-window IV expansion as the market debates whether forward growth supports the multiple.
What is a strangle on ICUI?
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 ICUI snapshot
As of June 29, 2026, spot at $147.88, ATM IV 36.50%, IV rank 6.83%, expected move 10.46%. The strangle on ICUI 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 18-day expiry.
Why this strangle structure on ICUI specifically: ICUI IV at 36.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a ICUI strangle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.46% (roughly $15.47 on the underlying). The 18-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated ICUI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ICUI should anchor to the underlying notional of $147.88 per share and to the trader's directional view on ICUI stock.
ICUI strangle setup
The ICUI 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 ICUI near $147.88, the first option leg uses a $155.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed ICUI chain at a 18-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 ICUI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $155.00 | $2.00 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $140.00 | $1.85 |
ICUI strangle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$385.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$385.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $136.15, $158.85
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- Unbounded
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.
ICUI strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on ICUI. 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% | +$13,614.00 |
| $32.71 | -77.9% | +$10,344.40 |
| $65.40 | -55.8% | +$7,074.80 |
| $98.10 | -33.7% | +$3,805.21 |
| $130.79 | -11.6% | +$535.61 |
| $163.49 | +10.6% | +$463.99 |
| $196.19 | +32.7% | +$3,733.59 |
| $228.88 | +54.8% | +$7,003.19 |
| $261.58 | +76.9% | +$10,272.78 |
| $294.27 | +99.0% | +$13,542.38 |
When traders use strangle on ICUI
Strangles on ICUI 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 ICUI chain.
ICUI thesis for this strangle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ICUI extends from approximately $132.41 on the downside to $163.35 on the upside. A ICUI 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 ICUI IV rank near 6.83% 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 ICUI at 36.50%. As a Healthcare name, ICUI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ICUI-specific events.
ICUI 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. ICUI positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move ICUI alongside the broader basket even when ICUI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current ICUI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on ICUI?
- A strangle on ICUI is the strangle strategy applied to ICUI (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 ICUI stock trading near $147.88, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ICUI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are ICUI 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 ICUI strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 36.50%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$385.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a ICUI strangle?
- The breakeven for the ICUI strangle priced on this page is roughly $136.15 and $158.85 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 ICUI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 10.46%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a strangle on ICUI?
- Strangles on ICUI 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 ICUI chain.
- How does current ICUI implied volatility affect this strangle?
- ICUI ATM IV is at 36.50% with IV rank near 6.83%, 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.