MSI Cash-Secured Put Strategy
MSI (Motorola Solutions, Inc.), in the Technology sector, (Communication Equipment industry), listed on NYSE.
Motorola Solutions, Inc. provides mission critical communications and analytics in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Software and Services. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and video security devices and infrastructure, as well as the implementation, and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, public safety, and commercial customers who operate private communications networks and video security solutions, as well as manage a mobile workforce. Its land mobile radio communications and video security and access control devices include two-way portable and vehicle-mounted radios, fixed and mobile video cameras, and accessories; radio network core and central processing software, base stations, consoles, and repeaters; and video analytics, network video management hardware and software, and access control solutions. The Software and Services segment provides repair, technical support, and hardware maintenance services. This segment also offers monitoring, software updates, and cybersecurity services; and public safety and enterprise command center software, unified communications applications, and video software solutions through on-premise and as a service.
MSI (Motorola Solutions, Inc.) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Communication Equipment, with a market capitalization of approximately $66.05B, a trailing P/E of 31.56, a beta of 0.94 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 359.36-492.22, average daily share volume of 1.1M, a public-listing history dating back to 1980, approximately 21K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MSI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.94 places MSI roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. MSI 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 MSI?
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 MSI snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $394.07, ATM IV 25.60%, IV rank 29.30%, expected move 7.34%. The cash-secured put on MSI 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 34-day expiry.
Why this cash-secured put structure on MSI specifically: MSI IV at 25.60% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling MSI cash-secured put collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 7.34% (roughly $28.92 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated MSI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MSI should anchor to the underlying notional of $394.07 per share and to the trader's directional view on MSI stock.
MSI cash-secured put setup
The MSI 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 MSI near $394.07, the first option leg uses a $370.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MSI chain at a 34-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 MSI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Put | $370.00 | $4.10 |
MSI cash-secured put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$410.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $410.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$36,589.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $365.90
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.011
Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium.
MSI cash-secured put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on MSI. 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% | -$36,589.00 |
| $87.14 | -77.9% | -$27,876.01 |
| $174.27 | -55.8% | -$19,163.01 |
| $261.40 | -33.7% | -$10,450.02 |
| $348.53 | -11.6% | -$1,737.02 |
| $435.66 | +10.6% | +$410.00 |
| $522.79 | +32.7% | +$410.00 |
| $609.92 | +54.8% | +$410.00 |
| $697.05 | +76.9% | +$410.00 |
| $784.18 | +99.0% | +$410.00 |
When traders use cash-secured put on MSI
Cash-secured puts on MSI earn premium while a trader waits to acquire MSI stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning MSI.
MSI thesis for this cash-secured put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MSI extends from approximately $365.15 on the downside to $422.99 on the upside. A MSI cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire MSI 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 MSI IV rank near 29.30% 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 MSI at 25.60%. As a Technology name, MSI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MSI-specific events.
MSI 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. MSI positions also carry Technology sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MSI alongside the broader basket even when MSI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on MSI carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical MSI earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current MSI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a cash-secured put on MSI?
- A cash-secured put on MSI is the cash-secured put strategy applied to MSI (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 MSI stock trading near $394.07, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MSI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MSI 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 MSI cash-secured put priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 25.60%), the computed maximum profit is $410.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$36,589.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a MSI cash-secured put?
- The breakeven for the MSI cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $365.90 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 MSI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 7.34%; 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 MSI?
- Cash-secured puts on MSI earn premium while a trader waits to acquire MSI stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning MSI.
- How does current MSI implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
- MSI ATM IV is at 25.60% with IV rank near 29.30%, 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.