QLYS Strangle Strategy
QLYS (Qualys, Inc.), in the Technology sector, (Software - Infrastructure industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Qualys, Inc. provides cloud-based information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which includes Vulnerability Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Threat Protection; Continuous Monitoring; Patch Management; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Certificate Assessment; SaaS Detection and Response; Secure Enterprise Mobility; Policy Compliance; Security Configuration Assessment; PCI Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; Security Assessment Questionnaire; Out of-Band Configuration Assessment; Web Application Scanning; Web Application Firewall; Global Asset Inventory; Cybersecurity Asset Management; Certificate Inventory; Cloud Inventory; Cloud Security Assessment; and Container Security. Its integrated suite of IT, security, and compliance solutions delivered on its Qualys Cloud Platform enables customers to identify and manage IT assets, collect and analyze IT security data, discover and prioritize vulnerabilities, recommend and implement remediation actions, and verify the implementation of such actions. The company also provides asset tagging and management, reporting and dashboards, questionnaires and collaboration, remediation and workflow, big data correlation and analytics engine, and alerts and notifications, which enable integrated workflows, management and real-time analysis, and reporting across IT, security, and compliance solutions. The company offers its solutions through its sales teams, as well as through its network of channel partners, such as security consulting organizations, managed service providers, resellers, and consulting firms. It serves enterprises, government entities, and small and medium-sized businesses in various industries, including education, financial services, government, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, media, retail, technology, and utilities.
QLYS (Qualys, Inc.) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Software - Infrastructure, with a market capitalization of approximately $3.05B, a trailing P/E of 15.29, a beta of 0.58 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 74.51-155.47, average daily share volume of 842K, a public-listing history dating back to 2012, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how QLYS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.58 indicates QLYS has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.
What is a strangle on QLYS?
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 QLYS snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $89.45, ATM IV 49.30%, IV rank 51.02%, expected move 14.13%. The strangle on QLYS 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 QLYS specifically: QLYS IV at 49.30% 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 14.13% (roughly $12.64 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 QLYS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on QLYS should anchor to the underlying notional of $89.45 per share and to the trader's directional view on QLYS stock.
QLYS strangle setup
The QLYS 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 QLYS near $89.45, the first option leg uses a $95.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed QLYS 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 QLYS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $95.00 | $3.65 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $85.00 | $3.25 |
QLYS strangle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$690.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$690.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $78.10, $101.90
- 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.
QLYS strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on QLYS. 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% | +$7,809.00 |
| $19.79 | -77.9% | +$5,831.32 |
| $39.56 | -55.8% | +$3,853.64 |
| $59.34 | -33.7% | +$1,875.96 |
| $79.12 | -11.6% | -$101.71 |
| $98.89 | +10.6% | -$300.61 |
| $118.67 | +32.7% | +$1,677.07 |
| $138.45 | +54.8% | +$3,654.75 |
| $158.22 | +76.9% | +$5,632.43 |
| $178.00 | +99.0% | +$7,610.11 |
When traders use strangle on QLYS
Strangles on QLYS 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 QLYS chain.
QLYS thesis for this strangle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for QLYS extends from approximately $76.81 on the downside to $102.09 on the upside. A QLYS 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 QLYS IV rank near 51.02% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the strangle thesis on QLYS should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Technology name, QLYS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to QLYS-specific events.
QLYS 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. QLYS positions also carry Technology sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move QLYS alongside the broader basket even when QLYS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current QLYS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on QLYS?
- A strangle on QLYS is the strangle strategy applied to QLYS (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 QLYS stock trading near $89.45, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed QLYS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are QLYS 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 QLYS strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 49.30%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$690.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a QLYS strangle?
- The breakeven for the QLYS strangle priced on this page is roughly $78.10 and $101.90 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 QLYS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 14.13%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a strangle on QLYS?
- Strangles on QLYS 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 QLYS chain.
- How does current QLYS implied volatility affect this strangle?
- QLYS ATM IV is at 49.30% with IV rank near 51.02%, 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.