VTOL Strangle Strategy
VTOL (Bristow Group Inc.), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Equipment & Services industry), listed on NYSE.
Bristow Group Inc. provides aviation services to integrated, national, and independent offshore energy companies in the United States. It also offers commercial search and rescue services; and other helicopter and fixed wing transportation services. As of March 31, 2022, the company had a fleet of 229 aircrafts, of which 213 were helicopters. It also has operations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Dutch Caribbean, Guyana, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad, and the United Kingdom. The company was founded 1948 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
VTOL (Bristow Group Inc.) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Equipment & Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.25B, a trailing P/E of 10.73, a beta of 1.30 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 28.03-50.38, average daily share volume of 227K, a public-listing history dating back to 2013, approximately 3K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how VTOL stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.30 places VTOL roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 10.73 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price. VTOL pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a strangle on VTOL?
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 VTOL snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $42.25, ATM IV 149.40%, IV rank 47.98%, expected move 42.83%. The strangle on VTOL 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 strangle structure on VTOL specifically: VTOL IV at 149.40% 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 42.83% (roughly $18.10 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 VTOL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on VTOL should anchor to the underlying notional of $42.25 per share and to the trader's directional view on VTOL stock.
VTOL strangle setup
The VTOL 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 VTOL near $42.25, the first option leg uses a $44.36 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed VTOL 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 VTOL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $44.36 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Put | $40.14 | N/A |
VTOL 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.
VTOL strangle payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the strangle on VTOL. 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 VTOL
Strangles on VTOL 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 VTOL chain.
VTOL thesis for this strangle
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for VTOL extends from approximately $24.15 on the downside to $60.35 on the upside. A VTOL 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 VTOL IV rank near 47.98% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the strangle thesis on VTOL should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Energy name, VTOL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to VTOL-specific events.
VTOL 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. VTOL positions also carry Energy sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move VTOL alongside the broader basket even when VTOL-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current VTOL chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a strangle on VTOL?
- A strangle on VTOL is the strangle strategy applied to VTOL (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 VTOL stock trading near $42.25, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed VTOL chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are VTOL 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 VTOL strangle priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 149.40%), 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 VTOL strangle?
- The breakeven for the VTOL 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 VTOL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 42.83%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a strangle on VTOL?
- Strangles on VTOL 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 VTOL chain.
- How does current VTOL implied volatility affect this strangle?
- VTOL ATM IV is at 149.40% with IV rank near 47.98%, 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.