TBI Long Put Strategy

TBI (TrueBlue, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Staffing & Employment Services industry), listed on NYSE.

TrueBlue, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides specialized workforce solutions in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It operates through three segments: PeopleReady, PeopleManagement, and PeopleScout. The PeopleReady segment offers contingent staffing solutions for blue-collar, on-demand, and skilled labor in construction, manufacturing and logistics, warehousing and distribution, waste and recycling, energy, retail, hospitality, and general labor industries. The PeopleManagement segment provides contingent labor and outsourced industrial workforce solutions. This segment also offers on-site management and recruitment for the contingent industrial workforce of manufacturing, warehouse, and distribution facilities; and recruitment and management of contingent and dedicated commercial drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Staff Management, SIMOS Insourcing Solutions, and Centerline Drivers brands. The PeopleScout segment offers permanent employee recruitment process outsourcing services; and manages clients' contingent labor programs comprising vendor selection, performance management, compliance monitoring, and risk management.

TBI (TrueBlue, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Staffing & Employment Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $176.6M, a beta of 1.61 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 3.18-7.78, average daily share volume of 395K, a public-listing history dating back to 1994, approximately 4K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how TBI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 1.61 indicates TBI 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 long put on TBI?

A long put buys downside exposure with a fixed maximum loss equal to the premium paid; profit accrues if the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration.

Current TBI snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $5.75, ATM IV 94.00%, IV rank 19.05%, expected move 26.95%. The long put on TBI 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 long put structure on TBI specifically: TBI IV at 94.00% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a TBI long put, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 26.95% (roughly $1.55 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 TBI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on TBI should anchor to the underlying notional of $5.75 per share and to the trader's directional view on TBI stock.

TBI long put setup

The TBI long put below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With TBI near $5.75, the first option leg uses a $5.75 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed TBI 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 TBI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

ActionTypeStrike / BasisPremium (est)
Buy 1Put$5.75N/A

TBI long put 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 equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium.

TBI long put payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the long put on TBI. 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 long put on TBI

Long puts on TBI hedge an existing long TBI stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying TBI exposure being hedged.

TBI thesis for this long put

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for TBI extends from approximately $4.20 on the downside to $7.30 on the upside. A TBI long put expresses a directional view that the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration, frequently sized to hedge an existing long TBI position with one put per 100 shares held. Current TBI IV rank near 19.05% 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 TBI at 94.00%. As a Industrials name, TBI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to TBI-specific events.

TBI long put positions are structurally bearish; 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. TBI positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move TBI alongside the broader basket even when TBI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Long-premium structures like a long put on TBI are particularly exposed to IV-crush risk through scheduled events (earnings, FDA decisions, central-bank meetings) where IV typically contracts post-event regardless of the directional outcome. Always rebuild the position from current TBI chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a long put on TBI?
A long put on TBI is the long put strategy applied to TBI (stock). The strategy is structurally bearish: A long put buys downside exposure with a fixed maximum loss equal to the premium paid; profit accrues if the underlying closes below the strike minus premium at expiration. With TBI stock trading near $5.75, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed TBI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are TBI long put max profit and max loss calculated?
Max profit equals the strike minus premium times 100 (reached at zero); max loss equals the premium times 100. Breakeven is strike minus premium. For the TBI long put priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 94.00%), 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 TBI long put?
The breakeven for the TBI long put 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 TBI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 26.95%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a long put on TBI?
Long puts on TBI hedge an existing long TBI stock position or express a bearish view with defined risk; position sizing typically scales the put notional to the underlying TBI exposure being hedged.
How does current TBI implied volatility affect this long put?
TBI ATM IV is at 94.00% with IV rank near 19.05%, 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.

Related TBI analysis