TDS Strangle Strategy
TDS (Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.), in the Communication Services sector, (Telecommunications Services industry), listed on NYSE.
Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., a telecommunications company, provides communications services to residential, commercial, and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through two segments: TDS Telecom and Array. The company offers internet connections and all-home Wi-Fi services, fiber internet, security, and support services; advanced home TV entertainment combined with a digital video recording (DVR) services; TDS TV+, an integrated cloud TV platform that combines linear and on-demand programming, mobile device interfaces, personalized recommendations, and network-based DVR; digital television; local and long-distance telephone service, voice over internet protocol, and enhanced services; wireless services to customers; broadband, IP-based services, and hosted voice and video collaboration services to small- and medium-sized businesses; carrying data and voice traffic services; wholesale services; and communication services in underserved areas. The company is also leases tower spaces to tenants; provides ancillary services. The company sells and distributes its products through third-party direct sales, retail stores, sales agents, and an online platform to sell services and products. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
TDS (Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.) trades in the Communication Services sector, specifically Telecommunications Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.09B, a trailing P/E of 33.38, a beta of 0.30 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 34.31-49.12, average daily share volume of 995K, a public-listing history dating back to 1981, approximately 4K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how TDS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.30 indicates TDS has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. TDS pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a strangle on TDS?
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 TDS snapshot
As of June 30, 2026, spot at $37.03, ATM IV 44.40%, IV rank 6.77%, expected move 12.73%. The strangle on TDS 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 TDS specifically: TDS IV at 44.40% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a TDS strangle, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 12.73% (roughly $4.71 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 TDS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on TDS should anchor to the underlying notional of $37.03 per share and to the trader's directional view on TDS stock.
TDS strangle setup
The TDS 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 TDS near $37.03, the first option leg uses a $38.88 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed TDS 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 TDS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $38.88 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $35.18 | N/A |
TDS 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.
TDS strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on TDS. 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 TDS
Strangles on TDS 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 TDS chain.
TDS thesis for this strangle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for TDS extends from approximately $32.32 on the downside to $41.74 on the upside. A TDS 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 TDS IV rank near 6.77% 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 TDS at 44.40%. As a Communication Services name, TDS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to TDS-specific events.
TDS 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. TDS positions also carry Communication Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move TDS alongside the broader basket even when TDS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current TDS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on TDS?
- A strangle on TDS is the strangle strategy applied to TDS (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 TDS stock trading near $37.03, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed TDS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are TDS 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 TDS strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 44.40%), 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 TDS strangle?
- The breakeven for the TDS 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 TDS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 12.73%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a strangle on TDS?
- Strangles on TDS 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 TDS chain.
- How does current TDS implied volatility affect this strangle?
- TDS ATM IV is at 44.40% with IV rank near 6.77%, 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.