SAIC Strangle Strategy
SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation), in the Technology sector, (Information Technology Services industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a U.S.-based firm, specializes in providing a wide array of advanced technical, engineering, and comprehensive information technology (IT) solutions. Its diverse offerings span crucial areas such as specialized engineering, seamless technology integration, and vital IT modernization initiatives. The company also handles the upkeep of land-based and naval systems, offers logistics management, and develops training and simulation programs. Furthermore, SAIC delivers full lifecycle IT services, covering everything from the initial design and development to integration, deployment, ongoing management, operations, sustainment, and robust security for client IT infrastructures. This extensive portfolio also includes services like cloud migration strategies, managed IT services, infrastructure upgrades, and complete enterprise IT-as-a-service solutions. SAIC's clientele primarily consists of various U.S. government entities.
SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Information Technology Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.66B, a trailing P/E of 11.90, a beta of 0.29 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 81.08-123.41, average daily share volume of 566K, a public-listing history dating back to 2013, approximately 24K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how SAIC stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.29 indicates SAIC has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. The trailing P/E of 11.90 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price. SAIC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a strangle on SAIC?
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 SAIC snapshot
As of June 30, 2026, spot at $111.15, ATM IV 34.80%, IV rank 42.26%, expected move 9.98%. The strangle on SAIC 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 17-day expiry.
Why this strangle structure on SAIC specifically: SAIC IV at 34.80% 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 9.98% (roughly $11.09 on the underlying). The 17-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated SAIC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on SAIC should anchor to the underlying notional of $111.15 per share and to the trader's directional view on SAIC stock.
SAIC strangle setup
The SAIC 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 SAIC near $111.15, the first option leg uses a $115.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed SAIC chain at a 17-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 SAIC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $115.00 | $1.63 |
| Buy 1 | Put | $105.00 | $1.35 |
SAIC strangle risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$297.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$297.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $102.03, $117.98
- 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.
SAIC strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on SAIC. 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% | +$10,201.50 |
| $24.58 | -77.9% | +$7,744.02 |
| $49.16 | -55.8% | +$5,286.55 |
| $73.73 | -33.7% | +$2,829.07 |
| $98.31 | -11.6% | +$371.59 |
| $122.88 | +10.6% | +$490.89 |
| $147.46 | +32.7% | +$2,948.36 |
| $172.03 | +54.8% | +$5,405.84 |
| $196.61 | +76.9% | +$7,863.32 |
| $221.18 | +99.0% | +$10,320.80 |
When traders use strangle on SAIC
Strangles on SAIC 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 SAIC chain.
SAIC thesis for this strangle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for SAIC extends from approximately $100.06 on the downside to $122.24 on the upside. A SAIC 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 SAIC IV rank near 42.26% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the strangle thesis on SAIC should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Technology name, SAIC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to SAIC-specific events.
SAIC 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. SAIC positions also carry Technology sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move SAIC alongside the broader basket even when SAIC-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current SAIC chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on SAIC?
- A strangle on SAIC is the strangle strategy applied to SAIC (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 SAIC stock trading near $111.15, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed SAIC chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are SAIC 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 SAIC strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 34.80%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$297.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a SAIC strangle?
- The breakeven for the SAIC strangle priced on this page is roughly $102.03 and $117.98 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 SAIC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 9.98%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a strangle on SAIC?
- Strangles on SAIC 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 SAIC chain.
- How does current SAIC implied volatility affect this strangle?
- SAIC ATM IV is at 34.80% with IV rank near 42.26%, 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.