CTSH Cash-Secured Put Strategy
CTSH (Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation), in the Technology sector, (Information Technology Services industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation functions as a global professional services firm, delivering a comprehensive suite of consulting, technology, and outsourcing solutions across North America, Europe, and other international markets. Its operations are structured into four primary divisions: Financial Services, Healthcare, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media and Technology. Within the Financial Services sector, Cognizant provides advanced services such as enhancing customer experiences, implementing robotic process automation (RPA), and leveraging analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to address needs in areas like digital lending, fraud prevention, and modern payment systems. For its Healthcare clients, the company focuses on navigating industry shifts toward consumer-centric models, outcome-based agreements, and digital health initiatives, striving to deliver an integrated, seamless, and patient-focused omnichannel experience. Furthermore, Cognizant assists in optimizing operations across various functions, including clinical development, pharmacovigilance, manufacturing, claims management, enrollment procedures, membership administration, and billing processes. Its clientele in this domain spans healthcare providers, payers, and life sciences organizations, encompassing pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device firms.
CTSH (Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Information Technology Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $26.22B, a trailing P/E of 12.22, a beta of 0.81 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 37.08-87.03, average daily share volume of 9.6M, a public-listing history dating back to 1998, approximately 357K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CTSH stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.81 places CTSH roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. CTSH 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 CTSH?
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.
CTSH snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $58.98, ATM IV 42.00%, IV rank 50.09%, expected move 12.04%. The cash-secured put on CTSH 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 CTSH specifically: CTSH IV at 42.00% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a CTSH cash-secured put sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 12.04% (roughly $7.10 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 CTSH expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CTSH should anchor to the underlying notional of $58.98 per share and to the trader's directional view on CTSH stock.
CTSH cash-secured put setup
The CTSH 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 CTSH at $58.98 on that close, the first option leg uses a $55.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CTSH 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 CTSH shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Put | $55.00 | $1.38 |
CTSH cash-secured put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$137.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $137.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$5,361.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $53.63
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.026
Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium.
CTSH cash-secured put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on CTSH. 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% | -$5,361.50 |
| $13.05 | -77.9% | -$4,057.53 |
| $26.09 | -55.8% | -$2,753.56 |
| $39.13 | -33.7% | -$1,449.59 |
| $52.17 | -11.5% | -$145.62 |
| $65.21 | +10.6% | +$137.50 |
| $78.25 | +32.7% | +$137.50 |
| $91.29 | +54.8% | +$137.50 |
| $104.33 | +76.9% | +$137.50 |
| $117.37 | +99.0% | +$137.50 |
When traders use cash-secured put on CTSH
Cash-secured puts on CTSH earn premium while a trader waits to acquire CTSH stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning CTSH.
CTSH thesis for this cash-secured put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CTSH extends from approximately $51.88 on the downside to $66.08 on the upside. A CTSH cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire CTSH 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 CTSH IV rank near 50.09% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the cash-secured put thesis on CTSH should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Technology name, CTSH options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CTSH-specific events.
CTSH 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. CTSH positions also carry Technology sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CTSH alongside the broader basket even when CTSH-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on CTSH carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical CTSH earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current CTSH chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a cash-secured put on CTSH?
- A cash-secured put on CTSH is the cash-secured put strategy applied to CTSH (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 CTSH stock at $58.98 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CTSH chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CTSH 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 CTSH cash-secured put priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 42.00%), the computed maximum profit is $137.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$5,361.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a CTSH cash-secured put?
- The breakeven for the CTSH cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $53.63 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 CTSH market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 12.04%; 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 CTSH?
- Cash-secured puts on CTSH earn premium while a trader waits to acquire CTSH stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning CTSH.
- How does current CTSH implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
- CTSH ATM IV is at 42.00% with IV rank near 50.09%, 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.