KTOS Long Put Strategy
KTOS (Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Aerospace & Defense industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. operates as a government contractor of the U.S. Department of Defense. The company operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The Kratos Government Solutions segment offers microwave electronic products, space and satellite communications, training and cybersecurity/ warfare, C5ISR/ modular systems, turbine technologies, and defense and rocket support services. The Unmanned Systems segment provides unmanned aerial systems, and unmanned ground and seaborne systems. It serves national security related agencies, the department of defense, intelligence agencies, and classified agencies, as well as international government agencies and domestic and international commercial customers.
KTOS (Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Aerospace & Defense, with a market capitalization of approximately $9.84B, a trailing P/E of 315.65, a beta of 1.06 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 33.56-134, average daily share volume of 4.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 1999, approximately 4K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how KTOS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.06 places KTOS roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 315.65 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 long put on KTOS?
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.
Current KTOS snapshot
As of May 13, 2026, spot at $53.16, ATM IV 69.00%, IV rank 55.21%, expected move 19.78%. The long put on KTOS 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 28-day expiry.
Why this long put structure on KTOS specifically: KTOS IV at 69.00% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 19.78% (roughly $10.52 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 KTOS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on KTOS should anchor to the underlying notional of $53.16 per share and to the trader's directional view on KTOS stock.
KTOS long put setup
The KTOS long put below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With KTOS near $53.16, the first option leg uses a $53.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed KTOS 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 KTOS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Put | $53.00 | $4.40 |
KTOS long put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$440.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $4,859.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$440.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $48.60
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 11.043
Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium.
KTOS long put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the long put on KTOS. 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% | +$4,859.00 |
| $11.76 | -77.9% | +$3,683.71 |
| $23.52 | -55.8% | +$2,508.43 |
| $35.27 | -33.7% | +$1,333.14 |
| $47.02 | -11.5% | +$157.85 |
| $58.77 | +10.6% | -$440.00 |
| $70.53 | +32.7% | -$440.00 |
| $82.28 | +54.8% | -$440.00 |
| $94.03 | +76.9% | -$440.00 |
| $105.79 | +99.0% | -$440.00 |
When traders use long put on KTOS
Long puts on KTOS hedge an existing long KTOS stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying KTOS exposure being hedged.
KTOS thesis for this long put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for KTOS extends from approximately $42.64 on the downside to $63.68 on the upside. A KTOS long put expresses a directional view that the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration, frequently sized to hedge an existing long KTOS position with one put per 100 shares held. Current KTOS IV rank near 55.21% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the long put thesis on KTOS should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Industrials name, KTOS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to KTOS-specific events.
KTOS 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. KTOS positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move KTOS alongside the broader basket even when KTOS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a long put on KTOS 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 KTOS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a long put on KTOS?
- A long put on KTOS is the long put strategy applied to KTOS (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 KTOS stock trading near $53.16, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed KTOS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are KTOS 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 KTOS long put priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 69.00%), the computed maximum profit is $4,859.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$440.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a KTOS long put?
- The breakeven for the KTOS long put priced on this page is roughly $48.60 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 KTOS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 19.78%; 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 KTOS?
- Long puts on KTOS hedge an existing long KTOS stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying KTOS exposure being hedged.
- How does current KTOS implied volatility affect this long put?
- KTOS ATM IV is at 69.00% with IV rank near 55.21%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.