RCUS Strangle Strategy

RCUS (Arcus Biosciences, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NYSE.

Arcus Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes cancer therapies in the United States. Its product pipeline includes, Etrumadenant, a dual A2a/A2b adenosine receptor antagonist, which is in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial; and Zimberelimab, an anti-PD-1 antibody that is in Phase 1b clinical trial for monotherapy. The company also develops Domvanalimab, an anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody, which is in Phase 2 development for the treatment of first-line metastatic non-small cell lung cancer in combination with Zimberelimab; Quemliclustat, a small-molecule CD73 inhibitor is in a Phase 1/1b study for the treatment of first-line metastatic pancreatic cancer; and AB521, an oral and small molecule HIF-2a inhibitor that is in Phase 1 study for the treatment of patients with von Hippel- Lindau disease. It has a clinical development collaboration agreement with Strata Oncology, Inc. to evaluate Zimberelimab; a collaboration with AstraZeneca, BVF Partners L.P to evaluate domvanalimab, its investigational anti-TIGIT antibody, in combination with Imfinzi (durvalumab) in a registrational Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with unresectable Stage III non-small cell lung cancer; and license agreements with Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Abmuno Therapeutics LLC, and WuXi Biologics to develop anti-CD39 antibody for the treatment of cancer. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Hayward, California.

RCUS (Arcus Biosciences, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.52B, a beta of 0.87 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 7.91-28.72, average daily share volume of 1.3M, a public-listing history dating back to 2018, approximately 627 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how RCUS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.87 places RCUS roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.

What is a strangle on RCUS?

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 RCUS snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $23.83, ATM IV 64.50%, IV rank 10.71%, expected move 18.49%. The strangle on RCUS 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 RCUS specifically: RCUS IV at 64.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a RCUS strangle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 18.49% (roughly $4.41 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 RCUS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on RCUS should anchor to the underlying notional of $23.83 per share and to the trader's directional view on RCUS stock.

RCUS strangle setup

The RCUS 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 RCUS near $23.83, the first option leg uses a $25.02 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed RCUS 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 RCUS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$25.02	N/A
Buy 1	Put	$22.64	N/A

RCUS 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.

RCUS strangle payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on RCUS. 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 RCUS

Strangles on RCUS 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 RCUS chain.

RCUS thesis for this strangle

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for RCUS extends from approximately $19.42 on the downside to $28.24 on the upside. A RCUS 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 RCUS IV rank near 10.71% 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 RCUS at 64.50%. As a Healthcare name, RCUS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to RCUS-specific events.

RCUS 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. RCUS positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move RCUS alongside the broader basket even when RCUS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current RCUS chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a strangle on RCUS?: A strangle on RCUS is the strangle strategy applied to RCUS (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 RCUS stock trading near $23.83, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed RCUS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are RCUS 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 RCUS strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 64.50%), 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 RCUS strangle?: The breakeven for the RCUS 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 RCUS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 18.49%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a strangle on RCUS?: Strangles on RCUS 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 RCUS chain.
How does current RCUS implied volatility affect this strangle?: RCUS ATM IV is at 64.50% with IV rank near 10.71%, 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.