CNC Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money CNC 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 $67.00 strike at 5.3% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
CNC covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $66.01 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $67.00 | 1.5% | $3.48 | 5.3% | 53.4% | $62.54 | 6.8% | 0 |
| $69.00 | 4.5% | $3.24 | 4.9% | 49.7% | $62.78 | 9.4% | 11 |
| $73.00 | 10.6% | $1.48 | 2.2% | 22.8% | $64.53 | 12.8% | 1 |
What the $67.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $66.01. Profit caps at $446.50 if CNC finishes above $67.00; below $62.54 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $49.51 | $-13.03 | $-1,302.75 |
| $53.63 | $-8.90 | $-890.19 |
| $57.76 | $-4.78 | $-477.62 |
| $61.88 | $-0.65 | $-65.06 |
| $66.01 | +$3.48 | +$347.50 |
| $70.14 | +$4.46 | +$446.50 |
| $74.26 | +$4.46 | +$446.50 |
| $78.39 | +$4.46 | +$446.50 |
| $82.51 | +$4.46 | +$446.50 |
When a covered call fits CNC
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 CNC 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 CNC loaded.
Questions
- What does a CNC covered call pay right now?
- The $67.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $3.48 per share, 5.3% of the $66.01 share price, or 53.4% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a CNC covered call?
- Selling the $67.00 call against stock bought at $66.01 breaks even at $62.54 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if CNC closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $67.00. Total return is 6.8%: the premium plus the move from $66.01 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
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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.