PACB Bull Call Spread Strategy
PACB (Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Devices industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. designs, develops, and manufactures sequencing systems to resolve genetically complex problems. The company provides PacBio's Systems, which conduct, monitor, and analyse biochemical sequencing reactions; consumable products, including single molecule real-time (SMRT) cells; and various reagent kits designed for specific workflow, such as template preparation kit to convert DNA into SMRTbell double-stranded DNA library formats, including molecular biology reagents, such as ligase, buffers, and exonucleases. It also offers binding kits, such as modified DNA polymerase used to bind SMRTbell libraries to the polymerase in preparation for sequencing; and sequencing kits comprise reagents required for on-instrument, real-time sequencing, including the phospholinked nucleotides. The company serves research institutions; commercial laboratories; genome centers; public health labs, hospitals and clinical research institutes, contract research organizations, and academic institutions; pharmaceutical companies; and agricultural companies. It markets its products through a direct sales force in North America and Europe, as well as through distribution partners in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. has a development and commercialization agreement with Invitae Corporation.
PACB (Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Devices, with a market capitalization of approximately $394.5M, a beta of 2.40 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 0.85-2.73, average daily share volume of 6.1M, a public-listing history dating back to 2010, approximately 575 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how PACB stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 2.40 indicates PACB 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 bull call spread on PACB?
A bull call spread buys an at-the-money call and sells an out-of-the-money call at a higher strike for defined risk and defined reward bounded by the strike width.
Current PACB snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $1.13, ATM IV 79.40%, IV rank 15.06%, expected move 22.76%. The bull call spread on PACB 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 bull call spread structure on PACB specifically: PACB IV at 79.40% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a PACB bull call spread, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 22.76% (roughly $0.26 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 PACB expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on PACB should anchor to the underlying notional of $1.13 per share and to the trader's directional view on PACB stock.
PACB bull call spread setup
The PACB bull call spread below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With PACB near $1.13, the first option leg uses a $1.13 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed PACB 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 PACB shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $1.13 | N/A |
| Sell 1 | Call | $1.19 | N/A |
PACB bull call spread 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 equals strike width minus net debit times 100; max loss equals net debit times 100. Breakeven is long-call strike plus net debit.
PACB bull call spread payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the bull call spread on PACB. 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 bull call spread on PACB
Bull call spreads on PACB reduce the cost of a bullish PACB stock position by selling a higher-strike call; suited to moderate-move theses where price reaches but does not vastly exceed the short strike.
PACB thesis for this bull call spread
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for PACB extends from approximately $0.87 on the downside to $1.39 on the upside. A PACB bull call spread caps both the risk and the reward of a bullish position; relative to an outright long call on PACB, the spread reduces the cost basis but limits the maximum profit to the strike width minus net debit. Current PACB IV rank near 15.06% 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 PACB at 79.40%. As a Healthcare name, PACB options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to PACB-specific events.
PACB bull call spread positions are structurally moderately bullish; 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. PACB positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move PACB alongside the broader basket even when PACB-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a bull call spread on PACB 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 PACB chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a bull call spread on PACB?
- A bull call spread on PACB is the bull call spread strategy applied to PACB (stock). The strategy is structurally moderately bullish: A bull call spread buys an at-the-money call and sells an out-of-the-money call at a higher strike for defined risk and defined reward bounded by the strike width. With PACB stock trading near $1.13, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed PACB chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are PACB bull call spread max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals strike width minus net debit times 100; max loss equals net debit times 100. Breakeven is long-call strike plus net debit. For the PACB bull call spread priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 79.40%), 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 PACB bull call spread?
- The breakeven for the PACB bull call spread 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 PACB market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 22.76%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a bull call spread on PACB?
- Bull call spreads on PACB reduce the cost of a bullish PACB stock position by selling a higher-strike call; suited to moderate-move theses where price reaches but does not vastly exceed the short strike.
- How does current PACB implied volatility affect this bull call spread?
- PACB ATM IV is at 79.40% with IV rank near 15.06%, 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.