AAL Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money AAL call expiring Oct 23, 2026, priced from the settled chain: what it pays, what it yields, and where the trade stops making money. The richest right now is the $13.00 strike at 5.7% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
AAL covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $12.70 share price, not by delta — the published chain carries premiums and open interest, not greeks, and inventing a delta here would be inventing data. Premium is the bid/ask midpoint where both sides quote, otherwise the last trade. The chain artifact publishes the six nearest expirations, so this is the longest one listed — 36 days out. Annualising anything shorter than a week says more about compounding arithmetic than about the trade, so those cells stay blank.
| Strike | % OTM | Premium | Yield | Annualised | Break-even | If assigned | OI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $13.00 | 2.4% | $0.72 | 5.7% | 57.5% | $11.98 | 8.0% | 701 |
| $13.50 | 6.3% | $0.59 | 4.6% | 46.7% | $12.11 | 10.9% | 193 |
| $14.00 | 10.2% | $0.40 | 3.1% | 31.9% | $12.30 | 13.4% | 378 |
What the $13.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $12.70. Profit caps at $102.00 if AAL finishes above $13.00; below $11.98 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $9.52 | $-2.46 | $-245.50 |
| $10.32 | $-1.66 | $-166.13 |
| $11.11 | $-0.87 | $-86.75 |
| $11.91 | $-0.07 | $-7.37 |
| $12.70 | +$0.72 | +$72.00 |
| $13.49 | +$1.02 | +$102.00 |
| $14.29 | +$1.02 | +$102.00 |
| $15.08 | +$1.02 | +$102.00 |
| $15.88 | +$1.02 | +$102.00 |
When a covered call fits AAL
A covered call sells someone else the right to buy your shares at the strike. It pays you today and caps your upside there, so it suits a holding you are content to own flat and content to sell at the strike — not one you expect to run.
The premium is compensation for implied volatility. Rich implied volatility pays more, and usually pays more because the market expects a move; a high annualised number on a name about to report earnings is a warning as often as an opportunity. Check the AAL expected move and the open-interest walls before assuming the strike is far enough away.
Full mechanics, assignment and rolling are in the covered call guide; to model a different strike or a multi-leg version, open the profit calculator with AAL loaded.
Questions
- What does a AAL covered call pay right now?
- The $13.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $0.72 per share, 5.7% of the $12.70 share price, or 57.5% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a AAL covered call?
- Selling the $13.00 call against stock bought at $12.70 breaks even at $11.98 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if AAL closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $13.00. Total return is 8.0%: the premium plus the move from $12.70 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on AAL
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Educational, not investment advice. Options involve risk. Open interest is reported with a one-session lag by OCC, so these levels describe positioning as of the last settled session, not live intraday flow.