TBI Straddle 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 straddle on TBI?
A long straddle buys an ATM call and an ATM put at the same strike, profiting from a large move in either direction; max loss equals the combined debit when the underlying pins to the strike 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 straddle 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 straddle 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 straddle, 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 straddle setup
The TBI straddle 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).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $5.75 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $5.75 | N/A |
TBI straddle 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 strike minus the combined call plus put debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins to the strike). Two breakevens at strike plus debit and strike minus debit.
TBI straddle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the straddle 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 straddle on TBI
Straddles on TBI are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy TBI straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
TBI thesis for this straddle
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 straddle is a pure-volatility play: it profits when the underlying moves far enough from the strike in either direction to overcome the combined call plus put debit, regardless of direction. 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 straddle positions are structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium); 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. Always rebuild the position from current TBI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a straddle on TBI?
- A straddle on TBI is the straddle strategy applied to TBI (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / high-volatility (long premium): A long straddle buys an ATM call and an ATM put at the same strike, profiting from a large move in either direction; max loss equals the combined debit when the underlying pins to the strike 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 straddle max profit and max loss calculated?
- Upside max profit is unbounded; downside max profit is bounded at the strike minus the combined call plus put debit (reached at zero). Max loss equals the combined debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins to the strike). Two breakevens at strike plus debit and strike minus debit. For the TBI straddle 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 straddle?
- The breakeven for the TBI straddle 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 straddle on TBI?
- Straddles on TBI are pure-volatility plays that profit from large moves in either direction; traders typically buy TBI straddles ahead of earnings, FDA decisions, or other catalysts where the realized move is expected to exceed the implied move priced into the chain.
- How does current TBI implied volatility affect this straddle?
- 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.