QSI Collar Strategy
QSI (Quantum-Si incorporated), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Quantum-Si incorporated, a life sciences company, develops a single molecule detection platform for sample preparation and sequencing. It offers a proprietary single molecule detection platform for use in semiconductor industry to field proteomics to enable next generation protein sequencing. The company was incorporated in 2013 is based in Guilford, Connecticut.
QSI (Quantum-Si incorporated) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $182.6M, a beta of 3.16 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 0.691-3.1, average daily share volume of 4.5M, a public-listing history dating back to 2020, approximately 149 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how QSI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 3.16 indicates QSI 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 collar on QSI?
A collar pairs long stock with a protective out-of-the-money put financed by a short out-of-the-money call, capping both tails of the position around the current spot.
Current QSI snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $0.89, ATM IV 92.96%, IV rank 17.19%, expected move 26.65%. The collar on QSI 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 28-day expiry.
Why this collar structure on QSI specifically: IV regime affects collar pricing on both sides; compressed QSI IV at 92.96% typically pushes the short call premium to roughly offset the long put cost, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 26.65% (roughly $0.24 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated QSI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on QSI should anchor to the underlying notional of $0.89 per share and to the trader's directional view on QSI stock.
QSI collar setup
The QSI collar below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With QSI near $0.89, the first option leg uses a $0.93 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed QSI chain at a 28-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 QSI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $0.89 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $0.93 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $0.85 | N/A |
QSI collar 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 roughly equals short-call strike minus cost basis plus net premium; max loss roughly equals cost basis minus long-put strike minus net premium. Breakeven shifts by the net premium.
QSI collar payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the collar on QSI. 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 collar on QSI
Collars on QSI hedge an existing long QSI stock position; the long put sets a floor while the short call finances it, often run as a near-zero-cost hedge during expected volatility windows.
QSI thesis for this collar
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for QSI extends from approximately $0.65 on the downside to $1.13 on the upside. A QSI collar hedges an existing long QSI position with a protective put while financing the put cost via a short call; when the premiums roughly offset, the collar acts as a near-zero-cost insurance band around the current spot. Current QSI IV rank near 17.19% 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 QSI at 92.96%. As a Healthcare name, QSI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to QSI-specific events.
QSI collar positions are structurally neutral (protective); 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. QSI positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move QSI alongside the broader basket even when QSI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current QSI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a collar on QSI?
- A collar on QSI is the collar strategy applied to QSI (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral (protective): A collar pairs long stock with a protective out-of-the-money put financed by a short out-of-the-money call, capping both tails of the position around the current spot. With QSI stock trading near $0.89, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed QSI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are QSI collar max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit roughly equals short-call strike minus cost basis plus net premium; max loss roughly equals cost basis minus long-put strike minus net premium. Breakeven shifts by the net premium. For the QSI collar priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 92.96%), 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 QSI collar?
- The breakeven for the QSI collar 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 QSI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 26.65%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a collar on QSI?
- Collars on QSI hedge an existing long QSI stock position; the long put sets a floor while the short call finances it, often run as a near-zero-cost hedge during expected volatility windows.
- How does current QSI implied volatility affect this collar?
- QSI ATM IV is at 92.96% with IV rank near 17.19%, 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.