PACB Strangle 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 strangle on PACB?
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 PACB snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $1.13, ATM IV 79.40%, IV rank 15.06%, expected move 22.76%. The strangle 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 strangle 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 strangle, 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 strangle setup
The PACB 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 PACB near $1.13, the first option leg uses a $1.19 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 | $1.19 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $1.07 | N/A |
PACB strangle 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
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.
PACB strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle 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 strangle on PACB
Strangles on PACB 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 PACB chain.
PACB thesis for this strangle
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 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 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 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. 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. Always rebuild the position from current PACB chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on PACB?
- A strangle on PACB is the strangle strategy applied to PACB (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 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 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 PACB strangle 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 strangle?
- The breakeven for the PACB strangle 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 strangle on PACB?
- Strangles on PACB 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 PACB chain.
- How does current PACB implied volatility affect this strangle?
- 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.