SXC Cash-Secured Put Strategy

SXC (SunCoke Energy, Inc.), in the Basic Materials sector, (Steel industry), listed on NYSE.

SunCoke Energy, Inc. (SXC) functions as a prominent, standalone manufacturer of coke, conducting its operations across the Americas and in Brazil. The company structures its business into three primary divisions: Domestic Coke, Brazil Coke, and Logistics. In addition to its core coke products, SXC also provides both metallurgical and thermal coal. It further supports a diverse client base—including steelmakers, coke producers, electric utilities, coal mining firms, and other manufacturers—by offering material handling and blending services. SunCoke Energy boasts a network of six cokemaking facilities, with five situated in the United States and one in Brazil. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Lisle, Illinois.

SXC (SunCoke Energy, Inc.) trades in the Basic Materials sector, specifically Steel, with a market capitalization of approximately $801.2M, a beta of 0.98 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 5.52-9.92, average daily share volume of 1.6M, a public-listing history dating back to 2011, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how SXC stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.98 places SXC roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. SXC 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 SXC?

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.

SXC snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $9.39, ATM IV 102.90%, IV rank 30.00%, expected move 10.28%. The cash-secured put on SXC below is built from the 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 SXC specifically: SXC IV at 102.90% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling SXC cash-secured put collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.28% (roughly $0.97 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 SXC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on SXC should anchor to the underlying notional of $9.39 per share and to the trader's directional view on SXC stock.

SXC cash-secured put setup

The SXC 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 SXC at $9.39 on that close, the first option leg uses a $8.92 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed SXC 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 SXC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

ActionTypeStrike / BasisPremium (est)
Sell 1Put$8.92N/A

SXC 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.

SXC cash-secured put payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the cash-secured put on SXC. 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 SXC

Cash-secured puts on SXC earn premium while a trader waits to acquire SXC stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning SXC.

SXC thesis for this cash-secured put

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for SXC extends from approximately $8.42 on the downside to $10.36 on the upside. A SXC cash-secured put lets a trader earn premium while waiting to acquire SXC 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 SXC IV rank near 30.00% 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 SXC at 102.90%. As a Basic Materials name, SXC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to SXC-specific events.

SXC 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. SXC positions also carry Basic Materials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move SXC alongside the broader basket even when SXC-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a cash-secured put on SXC carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical SXC earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current SXC chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cash-secured put on SXC?
A cash-secured put on SXC is the cash-secured put strategy applied to SXC (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 SXC stock at $9.39 on the most recent close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed SXC chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
How are SXC 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 SXC cash-secured put priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 102.90%), 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 SXC cash-secured put?
The breakeven for the SXC cash-secured put priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve at expiration, derived from the 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 SXC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 10.28%; 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 SXC?
Cash-secured puts on SXC earn premium while a trader waits to acquire SXC stock at a target strike below the current quote; most attractive when IV is rich and the trader is comfortable owning SXC.
How does current SXC implied volatility affect this cash-secured put?
SXC ATM IV is at 102.90% with IV rank near 30.00%, 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.

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