LSTR Strangle Strategy
LSTR (Landstar System, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Integrated Freight & Logistics industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Landstar System, Inc. delivers comprehensive logistics and transportation solutions, operating across North America (U.S., Canada, and Mexico) and globally. The company's operations are divided into two main divisions: Transportation Logistics and Insurance. The core Transportation Logistics segment offers an extensive range of freight movement options. These include full truckload and less-than-truckload (LTL) services, intermodal rail, air and ocean cargo, as well as expedited ground and air delivery for time-critical shipments. This segment also handles specialized transport like heavy-haul projects, cross-border freight between the U.S. and Canada, and the U.S. and Mexico, as well as intra-Mexico and intra-Canada movements, and customs brokerage. Landstar additionally provides transportation services to other logistics providers, such as third-party logistics firms and small parcel carriers.
LSTR (Landstar System, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Integrated Freight & Logistics, with a market capitalization of approximately $7.10B, a trailing P/E of 57.11, a beta of 0.88 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 119.32-228.46, average daily share volume of 485K, a public-listing history dating back to 1993, approximately 1K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how LSTR stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.88 places LSTR roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 57.11 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. LSTR pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a strangle on LSTR?
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 LSTR snapshot
As of June 29, 2026, spot at $208.03, ATM IV 38.30%, IV rank 44.16%, expected move 10.98%. The strangle on LSTR 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 LSTR specifically: LSTR IV at 38.30% 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 10.98% (roughly $22.84 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 LSTR expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on LSTR should anchor to the underlying notional of $208.03 per share and to the trader's directional view on LSTR stock.
LSTR strangle setup
The LSTR 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 LSTR near $208.03, the first option leg uses a $220.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed LSTR 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 LSTR shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $220.00 | $3.40 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $198.00 | $2.90 |
LSTR strangle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$630.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$630.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $191.70, $226.30
- 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.
LSTR strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on LSTR. 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% | +$19,169.00 |
| $46.01 | -77.9% | +$14,569.45 |
| $92.00 | -55.8% | +$9,969.90 |
| $138.00 | -33.7% | +$5,370.36 |
| $183.99 | -11.6% | +$770.81 |
| $229.99 | +10.6% | +$368.74 |
| $275.98 | +32.7% | +$4,968.29 |
| $321.98 | +54.8% | +$9,567.83 |
| $367.97 | +76.9% | +$14,167.38 |
| $413.97 | +99.0% | +$18,766.93 |
When traders use strangle on LSTR
Strangles on LSTR 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 LSTR chain.
LSTR thesis for this strangle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for LSTR extends from approximately $185.19 on the downside to $230.87 on the upside. A LSTR 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 LSTR IV rank near 44.16% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the strangle thesis on LSTR should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Industrials name, LSTR options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to LSTR-specific events.
LSTR 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. LSTR positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move LSTR alongside the broader basket even when LSTR-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current LSTR chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on LSTR?
- A strangle on LSTR is the strangle strategy applied to LSTR (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 LSTR stock trading near $208.03, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed LSTR chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are LSTR 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 LSTR strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 38.30%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$630.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a LSTR strangle?
- The breakeven for the LSTR strangle priced on this page is roughly $191.70 and $226.30 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 LSTR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 10.98%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a strangle on LSTR?
- Strangles on LSTR 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 LSTR chain.
- How does current LSTR implied volatility affect this strangle?
- LSTR ATM IV is at 38.30% with IV rank near 44.16%, 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.