PCT Cash-Secured Put Strategy
PCT (PureCycle Technologies, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Industrial - Pollution & Treatment Controls industry), listed on NASDAQ.
PureCycle Technologies, Inc. produces recycled polypropylene (PP). The company holds a license for restoring waste PP into ultra-pure recycled resin. Its recycling process separates color, odor, and other contaminants from plastic waste feedstock to transform it into virgin-like resin. The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.
PCT (PureCycle Technologies, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Industrial - Pollution & Treatment Controls, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.84B, a beta of 2.32 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 4.93-17.37, average daily share volume of 4.6M, a public-listing history dating back to 2020, approximately 157 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how PCT stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 2.32 indicates PCT has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position.
What is a cash-secured put on PCT?
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 PCT snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $12.52, ATM IV 102.04%, IV rank 77.97%, expected move 29.25%. The cash-secured put on PCT 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 28-day expiry.
Why this cash-secured put structure on PCT specifically: PCT IV at 102.04% is rich versus its 1-year range, which favors premium-selling structures like a PCT cash-secured put, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 29.25% (roughly $3.66 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated PCT expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on PCT should anchor to the underlying notional of $12.52 per share and to the trader's directional view on PCT stock.
PCT cash-secured put setup
The PCT 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 PCT near $12.52, the first option leg uses a $12.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed PCT chain at a 28-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 PCT shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sell 1 | Put | $12.00 | $1.13 |
PCT cash-secured put risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$112.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $112.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$1,086.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $10.88
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.104
Max profit equals premium times 100; max loss equals strike minus premium times 100 (at zero, assuming assignment). Breakeven is strike minus premium.
PCT cash-secured put payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on PCT. 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 | -99.9% | -$1,086.50 |
| $2.78 | -77.8% | -$809.79 |
| $5.54 | -55.7% | -$533.07 |
| $8.31 | -33.6% | -$256.36 |
| $11.08 | -11.5% | +$20.35 |
| $13.85 | +10.6% | +$112.50 |
| $16.61 | +32.7% | +$112.50 |
| $19.38 | +54.8% | +$112.50 |
| $22.15 | +76.9% | +$112.50 |
| $24.91 | +99.0% | +$112.50 |
When traders use cash-secured put on PCT
Cash-secured puts on PCT earn premium while a trader waits to acquire PCT stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning PCT.
PCT thesis for this cash-secured put
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for PCT extends from approximately $8.86 on the downside to $16.18 on the upside. A PCT cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire PCT 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 PCT IV rank near 77.97% sits in the upper third of its 1-year distribution, which historically reverts; this raises the bar for premium-buying structures and lowers it for premium-selling structures on PCT at 102.04%. As a Industrials name, PCT options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to PCT-specific events.
PCT 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. PCT positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move PCT alongside the broader basket even when PCT-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on PCT carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical PCT earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current PCT chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a cash-secured put on PCT?
- A cash-secured put on PCT is the cash-secured put strategy applied to PCT (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 PCT stock trading near $12.52, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed PCT chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are PCT 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 PCT cash-secured put priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 102.04%), the computed maximum profit is $112.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$1,086.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a PCT cash-secured put?
- The breakeven for the PCT cash-secured put priced on this page is roughly $10.88 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 PCT market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 29.25%; 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 PCT?
- Cash-secured puts on PCT earn premium while a trader waits to acquire PCT stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning PCT.
- How does current PCT implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
- PCT ATM IV is at 102.04% with IV rank near 77.97%, which is elevated relative to its 1-year range. Premium-selling structures (covered call, cash-secured put, iron condor) generally look more attractive when IV rank is high; premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are more expensive in that regime.