Boston Scientific (BSX) has dropped roughly 58% from its 52-week peak to trade near $44.98, and selling a cash-secured put at the $30 strike expiring September 17, 2027 generates about $135 in premium per contract. Layered onto the roughly 3.9% T-bill yield on the $3,000 in collateral, the blended annualized return comes to about 8.3%. The complication: a cybersecurity incident that struck in August 2026 disrupted global order processing and shipping, and Boston Scientific said on September 8 the event is likely to have a material impact on third-quarter and full-year 2026 results without putting a figure on it.
The case for taking the trade
Roughly 75% of Boston Scientific's revenue comes from businesses outside its two troubled segments, WATCHMAN and electrophysiology. Management's July guidance, issued before the August disruption, had that group growing about 6% in the second half of 2026. Interventional Cardiology delivered 15% growth in the June quarter, driven by coronary therapies, imaging, and complex procedures. If the stock falls below $30 and assignment occurs, the effective purchase price drops to about $28.65 a share after the $135 premium, a 36% discount to today's price.
If BSX holds above $30 through September 17, 2027, the put expires worthless, the $135 stays, and the $3,000 in collateral has been earning T-bill yields the entire time. The income trade pays in either direction as long as the stock does not break below its breakeven.
The counterargument carries real weight
The reason BSX repriced is not transient. WATCHMAN, the stroke-prevention implant for patients who cannot tolerate blood thinners, saw stand-alone US procedure volume fall at a low-teens rate in the June quarter of 2026 versus June 2025. New clinical evidence changed which patients physicians refer for the device. Concomitant procedures, those performed alongside an ablation, grew more than 60% in the June quarter, but management expects those comparisons to get meaningfully harder, and concomitant growth cannot carry the franchise.
In electrophysiology, Boston Scientific surrendered more US market share than it had planned and guided that segment flat globally for the second half of 2026, even as international electrophysiology sales grew 23% in the June quarter. The FARAPULSE-led shift to pulsed field ablation happened fast enough that PFA now accounts for about 80% of US AFib market revenue, leaving little unpenetrated spend left to capture. Boston Scientific's own guidance calls for below-market revenue growth in 2027 and limited adjusted EPS expansion, with meaningful improvement not expected until 2028. A new WATCHMAN competitor is expected at some point in 2027, and management is already modeling some share erosion alongside it.
On balance, the 8.3% blended yield is real, and ownership at $28.65 would represent a genuine discount to today's price. The structure makes sense for an investor already willing to hold Boston Scientific through a multi-year operational recovery. Management itself is not modeling any WATCHMAN improvement in 2027 until the stand-alone volume trend turns. That is the line to watch: if stand-alone procedures begin narrowing before the expected competitor arrives, the premium collected today was a fair price for that entry.