Single Stock Futures: What They Are and How to Trade Them

Single stock futures (SSFs) are back, and this time, the market is ready for them. In 2026, CME Group announced the relaunch of Single Stock Futures on CME Globex, offering cash-settled futures contracts on 50+ of the most actively traded U.S. stocks, including Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Meta.

For traders who want precise, leveraged exposure to individual company stocks, with nearly 24-hour market access, no stock borrowing requirements, and none of the Greeks that come with options, SSFs represent a fundamentally different way to trade the names you already know.

This guide breaks down exactly how Single Stock Futures work, what sets them apart from stocks and options, and what you need to know about trading them with Plus500.

What You'll Learn

• What Single Stock Futures (SSFs) are and how they differ from buying stocks outright
• How SSF contracts are structured (contract size, pricing, settlement)
• The key advantages: leverage, short selling, extended hours, and cash settlement
• How SSFs compare to stock options and equity index futures
• Who trades Single Stock Futures and why
• Trading SSF with Plus500
• Risks to understand before you trade
• Answers to the most common SSF questions

What Is a Single Stock Future (SSF)?

A single stock future (SSF) is a standardized futures contract whose underlying asset is an individual company's stock. Instead of buying or selling shares directly, you trade a contract that tracks the price of that stock , controlling exposure to 100 shares per contract, without owning a single share.

SSFs are financially (cash) settled, meaning there is no physical delivery of stock at expiration. Instead, the difference between the contract's entry price and the final settlement price is credited or debited in cash. This makes them operationally clean for active traders focused on price movement rather than ownership.

In 2026, CME Group announced the launch of Single Stock Futures on CME Globex, covering 50+ top U.S. stocks, including Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet, bringing this instrument back to U.S. markets for the first time since OneChicago closed in 2020.

How Do Single Stock Futures Work?

Contract Structure

Each SSF contract on CME Group represents 100 shares of the underlying stock. Prices are quoted in U.S. dollars and cents, with a minimum price fluctuation (tick size) of $0.01 per share, equal to $1.00 per contract.

Contracts are listed on a quarterly cycle: March, June, September, and December, for two consecutive quarterly expiration months at any given time.

Example: If Tesla (TSLA) is trading at $250 per share, one TSLA futures contract represents $25,000 in notional exposure (100 shares × $250). If Tesla rises to $275, your long position gains $2,500 ($25 × 100 shares), without having purchased a single share.

Settlement

CME Group Single Stock Futures are cash-settled. At expiration, open positions are not settled by delivering or receiving shares. Instead, the contract is marked to the final settlement price, and the net cash difference is applied to your account. This removes the logistical complexity of share delivery and makes SSFs more accessible to futures-native traders.

Trading Hours

SSFs trade on CME Globex for approximately 23 hours per day, Sunday through Friday, with a brief daily maintenance window. This is one of their most significant practical advantages: the equity market closes at 4:00 PM ET, but price, moving news, earnings, economic data, and geopolitical events don't keep business hours. SSFs let you act on that news when it happens.

Single Stock Futures Benefits: Leverage, Short Selling & 23-Hour Trading

1. Trade Nearly Around the Clock

The U.S. stock market operates from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET. SSFs trade for approximately 23 hours a day. That means when a company reports earnings after the bell, you can respond immediately, rather than waiting for the opening bell the next morning while the overnight gap develops without you.

2. Capital Efficiency Through Margin

Unlike buying stock outright, SSFs allow you to trade on margin. Rather than paying the full notional value of a position, you post an initial margin, which under SPAN margining (subject to a statutory minimum of 15%) is typically a fraction of the contract's full value. This allows you to control a position up to 6x larger in notional terms relative to the capital committed.

Important: Leverage amplifies both gains and losses. A position that moves against you will lose value faster than an unleveraged stock position of the same notional size.

3. Go Long or Short with Equal Ease

In the stock market, going short requires borrowing shares, a process that involves locate fees, borrow rates, and the risk of a short squeeze if shares are recalled. With SSFs, going short is structurally identical to going long: you simply sell a contract rather than buying one. No stock borrowing, no borrow fees, no locate requirements.

This makes SSFs particularly useful for traders who want to express a bearish view on a specific stock without the friction of the equity borrowing market.

4. Precise, Single-Stock Exposure

Equity index futures (like the E-mini S&P 500) give you broad market exposure , but if your thesis is about one specific company, an index future introduces basis risk from the other 499 stocks in the index. SSFs let you isolate the price risk of a single stock without affecting your broader portfolio exposure or requiring you to buy or sell the underlying shares.

5. Cash-Settlement, No Share Delivery Required

SSFs are financially settled, not physically settled. This matters for traders who want pure price exposure without the operational complexity of receiving or delivering actual shares. At expiration, positions are settled in cash based on the final settlement price, clean, efficient, and straightforward.

Single Stock Futures vs. Stock Options

Both SSFs and stock options give you leveraged exposure to individual stocks without owning the underlying shares. But they work very differently.

For traders who want directional stock exposure without managing the complexity of options Greeks (delta hedging, implied volatility, time decay), SSFs offer a more linear, futures-native instrument.

Single Stock Futures vs. Buying Stock Directly

Who Trades Single Stock Futures?

SSFs serve several distinct trader profiles:

Existing futures traders who want to apply their futures trading skills and infrastructure to individual stock exposure, without switching to equity markets or accounts.

Active stock traders looking for capital efficiency and extended trading hours beyond what their equity brokerage account provides.

Stock options traders who want directional exposure to individual stocks without managing the complexity of Greeks, volatility surface, and time decay.

Portfolio hedgers who need to hedge individual stock positions precisely. Where index futures hedge broad market exposure, SSFs let you hedge a specific holding without disturbing your portfolio.

Leveraged and tactical traders seeking to express overnight or event-driven views, earnings, product launches, and macro releases on specific companies with near 24-hour market access.

What Stocks Can You Trade with SSFs?

CME Group's initial SSF lineup covers 50+ leading U.S. stocks, concentrated in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100. The roster includes some of the most actively traded names in the market:

• Technology: Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta (META), Tesla (TSLA), Amazon (AMZN)
• Financials: JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs
• Healthcare & Consumer: and other large, cap S&P 500 constituents

Contract codes follow the CME convention of S + ticker for outright contracts (e.g., STSLA for Tesla) and T + ticker for BTIC (Basis Trade at Index Close) contracts.

Understanding Margin and Risk

How Margin Works for SSFs

SSF margins are determined using SPAN (Standard Portfolio Analysis of Risk), CME's risk-based margining framework. At launch, a statutory minimum initial margin of 15% applies. This means that to control one contract with a $25,000 notional value, you would need at least $3,750 in initial margin.

CME may adjust margin requirements around specific events, most notably:

• Earnings announcements (volatility increases, so margin requirements may rise temporarily)
• Concentration risk (if a position represents an unusually large share of open interest)

Corporate Events and SSF Positions

Because SSFs are based on individual stocks, they are affected by corporate events that don't typically impact index futures. CME Group has defined adjustment procedures for each:

• Stock splits (e.g., 2 for 1): Contract quantity adjusts, price adjusts proportionally. Economic value is preserved.
• Special dividends: Rather than paying a dividend, the futures settlement price is adjusted to reflect the dividend amount.
• Ticker changes (e.g., FB → META): Positions are transformed to the new contract symbol at the same price.
• Mergers, acquisitions, and spinoffs: CME may create temporary synthetic contracts to handle non-integral adjustments, with final settlement calculated using a formula specific to the event.
• Delistings: If the underlying stock is delisted, the SSF undergoes early final settlement based on the delisting date.

For traders, the key principle CME applies in all cases is economic preservation; adjustments are designed so that neither an artificial gain nor an artificial loss is created purely due to the mechanics of the corporate event.

Trading Single Stock Futures with Plus500

Getting started with Single Stock Futures on Plus500 Futures is straightforward:

1. Open and fund a Plus500 Futures account.
2. Search for the stock future you want to trade using the platform's search bar or product categories.
3. Review the contract specifications, including the contract size, expiration date, margin requirement, and trading hours.
4. Choose your position by deciding whether you expect the stock price to rise (buy/long) or fall (sell/short).
5. Set your order details, including the number of contracts and any risk management orders, such as stop-loss or take-profit levels.
6. Monitor your position through the Plus500 platform and adjust or close the trade before or at contract expiration, depending on your trading strategy.

Risks of Trading Single Stock Futures

Single Stock Futures are powerful instruments. That power cuts both ways.

Leverage risk. The same margin efficiency that lets you control $25,000 in notional exposure with $3,750 in capital also means a 15% adverse price move wipes out your entire initial margin. Losses can exceed your initial deposit.

Single-stock concentration risk. Unlike index futures, SSFs expose you to the idiosyncratic risk of one company; a bad earnings print, a product recall, an executive departure, or a regulatory action can move the stock sharply in ways that broad market exposure would not.

Overnight and weekend risk. While 23-hour trading reduces gaps, SSFs are still subject to price moves during the brief daily maintenance window and over weekends.

Corporate event risk. Unexpected corporate events, spinoffs, mergers, and special dividends can change your contract's terms, quantity, and settlement price. While CME's adjustment methodology aims to preserve economic value, the complexity requires attention.

Counterparty and margin call risk. SSFs are cleared through CME Clearing. If your position moves against you and your account falls below the maintenance margin threshold, you will receive a margin call requiring additional funds or position reduction.

Key Takeaways

• Single stock futures (SSFs) are standardized futures contracts based on individual stocks; each contract represents 100 shares of the underlying.
• CME Group is relaunching SSFs in the U.S. in 2026, with 50+ top stocks available, including Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Meta.
• SSFs are cash-settled, with no physical share delivery at expiration.
• They trade for approximately 23 hours per day on CME Globex, giving access to price moves outside regular stock market hours.
• Margin requirements start at a statutory minimum of 15%, enabling capital-efficient leverage of up to ~6x.
• Going short is as simple as going long , no stock borrowing or borrow fees required.
• Unlike options, SSFs have no Greeks, no time decay, no delta hedging, and no implied volatility management required.
• Corporate events (splits, dividends, mergers, delistings) affect SSF positions; CME has structured adjustment procedures designed to preserve economic value.
• Leverage amplifies both gains and losses. SSFs are complex instruments and not suitable for all traders.

Futures trading carries risks.