EFX Cash-Secured Put Strategy
EFX (Equifax Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Consulting Services industry), listed on NYSE.
Equifax Inc. operates as a global data and analytics company, delivering a range of information solutions and specialized human resources administrative process outsourcing services. Its clientele spans across businesses, governmental organizations, and individual consumers. The company's operations are structured into three primary divisions: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment specializes in employment-related data, offering verification services for income, employment history, criminal records, and Social Security numbers. It also provides tools for payroll-based transactions, employment tax management, and products aimed at protecting against identity theft.
EFX (Equifax Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Consulting Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $21.20B, a trailing P/E of 30.91, a beta of 1.30 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 150.75-271.84, average daily share volume of 1.8M, a public-listing history dating back to 1980, approximately 15K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how EFX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.30 places EFX roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. EFX 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 EFX?
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.
EFX snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $182.07, ATM IV 36.80%, IV rank 37.83%, expected move 10.55%. The cash-secured put on EFX 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 EFX specifically: EFX IV at 36.80% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a EFX cash-secured put sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.55% (roughly $19.21 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 EFX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on EFX should anchor to the underlying notional of $182.07 per share and to the trader's directional view on EFX stock.
EFX cash-secured put setup
The EFX 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 EFX at $182.07 on that close, the first option leg uses a $175.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed EFX 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 EFX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Put | $175.00 | $4.85 |
EFX cash-secured put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$485.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $485.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$17,014.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $170.15
- 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.
EFX cash-secured put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on EFX. 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% | -$17,014.00 |
| $40.27 | -77.9% | -$12,988.44 |
| $80.52 | -55.8% | -$8,962.88 |
| $120.78 | -33.7% | -$4,937.33 |
| $161.03 | -11.6% | -$911.77 |
| $201.29 | +10.6% | +$485.00 |
| $241.54 | +32.7% | +$485.00 |
| $281.80 | +54.8% | +$485.00 |
| $322.05 | +76.9% | +$485.00 |
| $362.31 | +99.0% | +$485.00 |
When traders use cash-secured put on EFX
Cash-secured puts on EFX earn premium while a trader waits to acquire EFX stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning EFX.
EFX thesis for this cash-secured put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for EFX extends from approximately $162.86 on the downside to $201.28 on the upside. A EFX cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire EFX 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 EFX IV rank near 37.83% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the cash-secured put thesis on EFX should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Industrials name, EFX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to EFX-specific events.
EFX 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. EFX positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move EFX alongside the broader basket even when EFX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on EFX carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical EFX earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current EFX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a cash-secured put on EFX?
- A cash-secured put on EFX is the cash-secured put strategy applied to EFX (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 EFX stock at $182.07 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed EFX chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are EFX 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 EFX cash-secured put priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 36.80%), the computed maximum profit is $485.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$17,014.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a EFX cash-secured put?
- The breakeven for the EFX cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $170.15 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 EFX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 10.55%; 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 EFX?
- Cash-secured puts on EFX earn premium while a trader waits to acquire EFX stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning EFX.
- How does current EFX implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
- EFX ATM IV is at 36.80% with IV rank near 37.83%, 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.