ACAD Cash-Secured Put Strategy
ACAD (ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. operates as a biopharmaceutical company, primarily dedicated to discovering, developing, and commercializing small molecule therapeutics. Their core focus lies in addressing critical unmet medical needs within the realm of central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company's marketed product, NUPLAZID (pimavanserin), is prescribed for the management of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis. Beyond its commercialized offering, ACADIA maintains a robust development pipeline, featuring several promising candidates: Pimavanserin: This compound is currently undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials for additional indications, specifically for Alzheimer's disease psychosis and the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Trofinetide: A novel synthetic compound, Trofinetide is also in Phase 3 development, aimed at treating Rett syndrome. ACP-044: This orally administered, first-in-class non-opioid analgesic is progressing through Phase 2 studies for both acute and chronic pain.
ACAD (ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.04B, a trailing P/E of 13.28, a beta of 0.85 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 19.69-29.84, average daily share volume of 1.7M, a public-listing history dating back to 2004, approximately 797 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how ACAD stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.85 places ACAD roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a cash-secured put on ACAD?
A cash-secured put sells an out-of-the-money put while holding cash equal to the strike-times-100 obligation, keeping the premium when the underlying stays above the strike.
ACAD snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $28.43, ATM IV 43.40%, IV rank 40.00%, expected move 12.44%. The cash-secured put on ACAD below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.
Why this cash-secured put structure on ACAD specifically: ACAD IV at 43.40% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a ACAD cash-secured put sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 12.44% (roughly $3.54 on the underlying). The 35-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated ACAD expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ACAD should anchor to the underlying notional of $28.43 per share and to the trader's directional view on ACAD stock.
ACAD cash-secured put setup
The ACAD cash-secured put below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With ACAD at $28.43 on that close, the first option leg uses a $27.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed ACAD chain at a 35-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 ACAD shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Put | $27.00 | $0.78 |
ACAD cash-secured put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$77.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $77.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$2,621.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $26.23
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.030
Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium.
ACAD cash-secured put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on ACAD. 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% | -$2,621.50 |
| $6.29 | -77.9% | -$1,993.01 |
| $12.58 | -55.8% | -$1,364.52 |
| $18.86 | -33.6% | -$736.02 |
| $25.15 | -11.5% | -$107.53 |
| $31.43 | +10.6% | +$77.50 |
| $37.72 | +32.7% | +$77.50 |
| $44.00 | +54.8% | +$77.50 |
| $50.29 | +76.9% | +$77.50 |
| $56.57 | +99.0% | +$77.50 |
When traders use cash-secured put on ACAD
Cash-secured puts on ACAD earn premium while a trader waits to acquire ACAD stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning ACAD.
ACAD thesis for this cash-secured put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ACAD extends from approximately $24.89 on the downside to $31.97 on the upside. A ACAD cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire ACAD at the strike price; the strategy is most attractive when the trader is comfortable holding the underlying at that level and IV is rich enough to compensate for the assignment risk. Current ACAD IV rank near 40.00% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the cash-secured put thesis on ACAD should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, ACAD options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ACAD-specific events.
ACAD cash-secured put positions are structurally neutral to slightly bullish; 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. ACAD positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move ACAD alongside the broader basket even when ACAD-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on ACAD carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical ACAD earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current ACAD chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a cash-secured put on ACAD?
- A cash-secured put on ACAD is the cash-secured put strategy applied to ACAD (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A cash-secured put sells an out-of-the-money put while holding cash equal to the strike-times-100 obligation, keeping the premium when the underlying stays above the strike. With ACAD stock at $28.43 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ACAD chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are ACAD cash-secured put max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium. For the ACAD cash-secured put priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 43.40%), the computed maximum profit is $77.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$2,621.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a ACAD cash-secured put?
- The breakeven for the ACAD cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $26.23 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The ACAD market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 12.44%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a cash-secured put on ACAD?
- Cash-secured puts on ACAD earn premium while a trader waits to acquire ACAD stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning ACAD.
- How does current ACAD implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
- ACAD ATM IV is at 43.40% with IV rank near 40.00%, 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.