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. The company’s development product portfolio includes Casdatifan, a HIF-2a inhibitor for the treatment of kidney cancer; Domvanalimab, an anti-TIGIT antibody, which is in Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trial for lung and gastrointestinal cancers; and Zimberelimab, an anti-PD-1 antibody. It also develops Quemliclustat, a small molecule inhibitor that targets the CD73 enzyme in the ATP-adenosine pathway, which is in phase 3 and phase 1/1b clinical trial for lung and pancreatic cancer. In addition, the company develops AB598, a CD39 antibody, which is in phase 1/1b clinical study for gastrointestinal cancer and AB801, an AXL inhibitor, which is in Phase 1b clinical trial for lung cancer. It has clinical collaboration with AstraZeneca for the Phase 3 PACIFIC-8 trial evaluating domvanalimab and durvalumab in Stage 3 NSCLC and for a Phase 1/1b study evaluating casdatifan and volrustomig in IO-naive patients with ccRCC and BVF Partners L.P. to support the discovery and development of compounds for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Arcus Biosciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Hayward, California.
RCUS (Arcus Biosciences, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $3.64B, a beta of 0.81 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 9.73-31.735, average daily share volume of 1.3M, a public-listing history dating back to 2018, approximately 601 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 0.81 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.
RCUS snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $29.41, ATM IV 70.10%, IV rank 39.38%, expected move 20.10%. The strangle on RCUS below is built from the end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.
Why this strangle structure on RCUS specifically: RCUS IV at 70.10% 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 20.10% (roughly $5.91 on the underlying). The 35-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 $29.41 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 at $29.41 on that close, the first option leg uses a $30.88 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 35-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 | $30.88 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $27.94 | 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 $23.50 on the downside to $35.32 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 39.38% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the strangle thesis on RCUS should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. 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 at $29.41 on the most recent close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed RCUS chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's 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 70.10%), 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 the end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The RCUS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 20.10%; 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 70.10% with IV rank near 39.38%, 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.