How are CARG 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 CARG cash-secured put priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 42.40%), the computed maximum profit is $97.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$3,401.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a CARG cash-secured put?

The breakeven for the CARG cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $34.03 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 CARG market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 12.16%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current CARG implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?

CARG ATM IV is at 42.40% with IV rank near 20.55%, 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.

CARG Cash-Secured Put Strategy

CARG (CarGurus, Inc.), in the Consumer Cyclical sector, (Auto - Dealerships industry), listed on NASDAQ.

CarGurus, Inc., established in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2005, manages a prominent online ecosystem for vehicle transactions, serving both buyers and sellers across the United States and internationally. The company's operations are divided into two main segments: the U.S. Marketplace and Digital Wholesale. Essentially, CarGurus offers an expansive digital automotive marketplace where individuals can search for new and pre-owned vehicle listings from numerous dealerships. Simultaneously, it empowers dealers by linking them with a vast, engaged consumer base and supplying them with practical, data-driven market intelligence. The platform provides an array of specialized features to simplify the car buying and selling journey.

CARG (CarGurus, Inc.) trades in the Consumer Cyclical sector, specifically Auto - Dealerships, with a market capitalization of approximately $3.62B, a trailing P/E of 19.18, a beta of 1.17 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 26.39-41.22, average daily share volume of 1.3M, a public-listing history dating back to 2017, approximately 1K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CARG stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 1.17 places CARG 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 CARG?

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.

CARG snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $37.16, ATM IV 42.40%, IV rank 20.55%, expected move 12.16%. The cash-secured put on CARG 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 CARG specifically: CARG IV at 42.40% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling CARG cash-secured put collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 12.16% (roughly $4.52 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 CARG expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CARG should anchor to the underlying notional of $37.16 per share and to the trader's directional view on CARG stock.

CARG cash-secured put setup

The CARG 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 CARG at $37.16 on that close, the first option leg uses a $35.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CARG 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 CARG shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Sell 1	Put	$35.00	$0.98

CARG cash-secured put risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: +$97.50
Max Profit (per contract): $97.50
Max Loss (per contract): -$3,401.50
Breakeven(s): $34.03
Risk / Reward Ratio: 0.029

Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium.

CARG cash-secured put payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on CARG. 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.

P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.

Underlying Price	% From Spot	P&L at Expiration
$0.01	-100.0%	-$3,401.50
$8.23	-77.9%	-$2,579.98
$16.44	-55.8%	-$1,758.46
$24.66	-33.7%	-$936.95
$32.87	-11.5%	-$115.43
$41.09	+10.6%	+$97.50
$49.30	+32.7%	+$97.50
$57.52	+54.8%	+$97.50
$65.73	+76.9%	+$97.50
$73.95	+99.0%	+$97.50

When traders use cash-secured put on CARG

Cash-secured puts on CARG earn premium while a trader waits to acquire CARG stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning CARG.

CARG thesis for this cash-secured put

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CARG extends from approximately $32.64 on the downside to $41.68 on the upside. A CARG cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire CARG 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 CARG IV rank near 20.55% 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 CARG at 42.40%. As a Consumer Cyclical name, CARG options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CARG-specific events.

CARG 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. CARG positions also carry Consumer Cyclical sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CARG alongside the broader basket even when CARG-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on CARG carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical CARG earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current CARG chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cash-secured put on CARG?: A cash-secured put on CARG is the cash-secured put strategy applied to CARG (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 CARG stock at $37.16 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CARG chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
How are CARG 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 CARG cash-secured put priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 42.40%), the computed maximum profit is $97.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$3,401.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a CARG cash-secured put?: The breakeven for the CARG cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $34.03 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 CARG market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 12.16%; 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 CARG?: Cash-secured puts on CARG earn premium while a trader waits to acquire CARG stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning CARG.
How does current CARG implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?: CARG ATM IV is at 42.40% with IV rank near 20.55%, 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.