CRAI Cash-Secured Put Strategy
CRAI (CRA International, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Consulting Services industry), listed on NASDAQ.
CRA International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides economic, financial, and management consulting services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It advises clients on economic and financial matters pertaining to litigation and regulatory proceedings; and guides corporations through business strategy and performance-related issues. The company also offers consulting services, including research and analysis, expert testimony, and support in litigation and regulatory proceedings in the areas of finance, accounting, economics, insurance, and forensic accounting and investigations to corporate clients and attorneys. In addition, it offers management consulting services comprising strategy development, performance improvement, corporate strategy and portfolio analysis, estimation of market demand, new product pricing strategies, valuation of intellectual property and other assets, assessment of competitors' actions, and analysis of new sources of supply. The company serves various industries, including communications and media; consumer, health, and wellness products; energy; entertainment and leisure; financial services; healthcare; life sciences; manufacturing and industries; natural resources; retail and distribution; technology; and transportation. CRA International, Inc. was incorporated in 1965 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
CRAI (CRA International, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Consulting Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $898.6M, a trailing P/E of 18.90, a beta of 0.74 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 132.17-227.29, average daily share volume of 186K, a public-listing history dating back to 1998, approximately 947 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CRAI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.74 places CRAI roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. CRAI pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a cash-secured put on CRAI?
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.
Current CRAI snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $138.18, ATM IV 47.40%, IV rank 5.45%, expected move 13.59%. The cash-secured put on CRAI 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 98-day expiry.
Why this cash-secured put structure on CRAI specifically: CRAI IV at 47.40% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling CRAI cash-secured put collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 13.59% (roughly $18.78 on the underlying). The 98-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated CRAI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CRAI should anchor to the underlying notional of $138.18 per share and to the trader's directional view on CRAI stock.
CRAI cash-secured put setup
The CRAI cash-secured put below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With CRAI near $138.18, the first option leg uses a $130.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CRAI chain at a 98-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 CRAI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Put | $130.00 | $9.55 |
CRAI cash-secured put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$955.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $955.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$12,044.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $120.45
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.079
Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium.
CRAI cash-secured put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on CRAI. 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% | -$12,044.00 |
| $30.56 | -77.9% | -$8,988.87 |
| $61.11 | -55.8% | -$5,933.75 |
| $91.66 | -33.7% | -$2,878.62 |
| $122.22 | -11.6% | +$176.50 |
| $152.77 | +10.6% | +$955.00 |
| $183.32 | +32.7% | +$955.00 |
| $213.87 | +54.8% | +$955.00 |
| $244.42 | +76.9% | +$955.00 |
| $274.97 | +99.0% | +$955.00 |
When traders use cash-secured put on CRAI
Cash-secured puts on CRAI earn premium while a trader waits to acquire CRAI stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning CRAI.
CRAI thesis for this cash-secured put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CRAI extends from approximately $119.40 on the downside to $156.96 on the upside. A CRAI cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire CRAI 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 CRAI IV rank near 5.45% 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 CRAI at 47.40%. As a Industrials name, CRAI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CRAI-specific events.
CRAI 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. CRAI positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CRAI alongside the broader basket even when CRAI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on CRAI carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical CRAI earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current CRAI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a cash-secured put on CRAI?
- A cash-secured put on CRAI is the cash-secured put strategy applied to CRAI (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 CRAI stock trading near $138.18, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CRAI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CRAI 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 CRAI cash-secured put priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 47.40%), the computed maximum profit is $955.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$12,044.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a CRAI cash-secured put?
- The breakeven for the CRAI cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $120.45 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 CRAI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 13.59%; 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 CRAI?
- Cash-secured puts on CRAI earn premium while a trader waits to acquire CRAI stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning CRAI.
- How does current CRAI implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
- CRAI ATM IV is at 47.40% with IV rank near 5.45%, 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.