PLUS Straddle Strategy
PLUS (ePlus inc.), in the Technology sector, (Software - Application industry), listed on NASDAQ.
ePlus inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) solutions that enable organizations to optimize their IT environment and supply chain processes in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Technology and Financing. The Technology segment offers hardware, perpetual and subscription software, maintenance, software assurance, and internally provided and outsourced services; and professional and managed services, including managed, professional, security solutions, cloud consulting and hosting, staff augmentation, server and desktop support, and project management services. The Financing segment engages in financing arrangements, such as sales-type and operating leases; loans and consumption-based financing arrangements; and underwriting, management, and disposal of IT equipment and assets. Its financing operations comprise sales, pricing, credit, contracts, accounting, risk management, and asset management. This segment primarily finances IT, communication-related, and medical equipment; and industrial machinery and equipment, office furniture and general office equipment, transportation equipment, and other general business equipment directly, as well as through vendors. ePlus inc. serves commercial entities, state and local governments, government contractors, and educational institutions.
PLUS (ePlus inc.) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Software - Application, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.20B, a trailing P/E of 16.40, a beta of 1.04 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 62.11-93.98, average daily share volume of 183K, a public-listing history dating back to 1996, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how PLUS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.04 places PLUS roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. PLUS pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a straddle on PLUS?
A long straddle buys an ATM call and an ATM put at the same strike, profiting from a large move in either direction; max loss equals the combined debit when the underlying pins to the strike at expiration.
Current PLUS snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $83.69, ATM IV 39.30%, IV rank 5.43%, expected move 11.27%. The straddle on PLUS 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 straddle structure on PLUS specifically: PLUS IV at 39.30% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a PLUS straddle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 11.27% (roughly $9.43 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 PLUS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on PLUS should anchor to the underlying notional of $83.69 per share and to the trader's directional view on PLUS stock.
PLUS straddle setup
The PLUS straddle below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With PLUS near $83.69, the first option leg uses a $85.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed PLUS 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 PLUS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $85.00 | $3.30 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $85.00 | $4.10 |
PLUS straddle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$740.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$735.66
- Breakeven(s)
- $77.60, $92.40
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- Unbounded
Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the strike minus the combined call plus put debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins to the strike). Two breakevens at strike plus debit and strike minus debit.
PLUS straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle on PLUS. 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% | +$7,759.00 |
| $18.51 | -77.9% | +$5,908.68 |
| $37.02 | -55.8% | +$4,058.36 |
| $55.52 | -33.7% | +$2,208.04 |
| $74.02 | -11.6% | +$357.71 |
| $92.53 | +10.6% | +$12.61 |
| $111.03 | +32.7% | +$1,862.93 |
| $129.53 | +54.8% | +$3,713.25 |
| $148.04 | +76.9% | +$5,563.57 |
| $166.54 | +99.0% | +$7,413.89 |
When traders use straddle on PLUS
Straddles on PLUS are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy PLUS straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
PLUS thesis for this straddle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for PLUS extends from approximately $74.26 on the downside to $93.12 on the upside. A PLUS long straddle is a pure-volatility play: it profits when the underlying moves far enough from the strike in either direction to overcome the combined call plus put debit, regardless of direction. Current PLUS IV rank near 5.43% 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 PLUS at 39.30%. As a Technology name, PLUS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to PLUS-specific events.
PLUS straddle positions are structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium); 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. PLUS positions also carry Technology sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move PLUS alongside the broader basket even when PLUS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current PLUS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on PLUS?
- A straddle on PLUS is the straddle strategy applied to PLUS (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium): A long straddle buys an ATM call and an ATM put at the same strike, profiting from a large move in either direction; max loss equals the combined debit when the underlying pins to the strike at expiration. With PLUS stock trading near $83.69, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed PLUS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are PLUS straddle max profit and max loss calculated?
- Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the strike minus the combined call plus put debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins to the strike). Two breakevens at strike plus debit and strike minus debit. For the PLUS straddle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 39.30%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$735.66 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a PLUS straddle?
- The breakeven for the PLUS straddle priced on this page is roughly $77.60 and $92.40 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 PLUS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 11.27%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a straddle on PLUS?
- Straddles on PLUS are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy PLUS straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
- How does current PLUS implied volatility affect this straddle?
- PLUS ATM IV is at 39.30% with IV rank near 5.43%, 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.