Cboe wins SEC approval to list options on company performance metrics

Cboe Global Markets has secured approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to list options tied to the performance metrics of publicly traded companies. That makes it the first US securities exchange cleared to offer this kind of product. The SEC signed off on Cboe’s rule change on October 13, 2026. The products are binary options built around key performance indicators, or KPIs, reported by a select group of public companies. The structure is about as simple as a derivative gets. If a company’s reported metric meets or beats a preset strike, the contract pays $1. If it falls short, it pays $0. How the contracts work The options are cash-settled and European-style. Cash-settled means no shares change hands at expiration: traders simply receive the payout in cash. European-style means the contract can only be exercised at expiry, not at any point before. Initial targets include revenue, earnings per share, and operational figures. Around 23 actively traded US companies are expected to be part of the first batch. Apple and Tesla are among the names in the lineup. Settlement will be based on data pulled from official SEC filings. That covers 10-K annual reports, 10-Q quarter...