HQY Cash-Secured Put Strategy
HQY (HealthEquity, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Healthcare Information Services industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Headquartered in Draper, Utah, and established in 2002, HealthEquity, Inc. furnishes technology-powered service platforms to both individual consumers and employers across the United States. The company provides cloud-based solutions designed to assist individuals in overseeing their healthcare expenditures and savings. These platforms enable users to make informed decisions about their health finances, pay medical bills, compare treatment options and costs, access personalized benefits and clinical data, earn incentives for wellness, and grow their savings through various investment avenues, including specific investment choices. In addition to these personal financial management tools, HealthEquity administers a range of health-related accounts, such as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). Its offerings also encompass a mutual fund investment platform, an automated online advisory service known as Advisor, COBRA continuation services, and the management of pre-tax commuter benefits programs. HealthEquity markets its services through a dedicated direct sales team, collaborates with benefits brokers and advisors, and leverages a comprehensive network comprising health plans, benefits administrators, consultants, and retirement plan record-keepers.
HQY (HealthEquity, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Healthcare Information Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $7.40B, a trailing P/E of 32.37, a beta of 0.22 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 72.76-106.6, average daily share volume of 1.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 2014, approximately 3K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how HQY stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.22 indicates HQY has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.
What is a cash-secured put on HQY?
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 HQY snapshot
As of June 29, 2026, spot at $87.66, ATM IV 38.50%, IV rank 5.54%, expected move 11.04%. The cash-secured put on HQY 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 18-day expiry.
Why this cash-secured put structure on HQY specifically: HQY IV at 38.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling HQY cash-secured put collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 11.04% (roughly $9.68 on the underlying). The 18-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated HQY expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on HQY should anchor to the underlying notional of $87.66 per share and to the trader's directional view on HQY stock.
HQY cash-secured put setup
The HQY 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 HQY near $87.66, the first option leg uses a $83.28 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed HQY chain at a 18-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 HQY shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Put | $83.28 | N/A |
HQY cash-secured put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium.
HQY cash-secured put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on HQY. 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.
When traders use cash-secured put on HQY
Cash-secured puts on HQY earn premium while a trader waits to acquire HQY stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning HQY.
HQY thesis for this cash-secured put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for HQY extends from approximately $77.98 on the downside to $97.34 on the upside. A HQY cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire HQY 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 HQY IV rank near 5.54% 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 HQY at 38.50%. As a Healthcare name, HQY options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to HQY-specific events.
HQY 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. HQY positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move HQY alongside the broader basket even when HQY-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on HQY carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical HQY earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current HQY chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a cash-secured put on HQY?
- A cash-secured put on HQY is the cash-secured put strategy applied to HQY (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 HQY stock trading near $87.66, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed HQY chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are HQY 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 HQY cash-secured put priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 38.50%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a HQY cash-secured put?
- The breakeven for the HQY cash-secured put priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 HQY market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 11.04%; 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 HQY?
- Cash-secured puts on HQY earn premium while a trader waits to acquire HQY stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning HQY.
- How does current HQY implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
- HQY ATM IV is at 38.50% with IV rank near 5.54%, 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.