CVS Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money CVS 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 $94.00 strike at 3.0% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
CVS covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $91.72 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $94.00 | 2.5% | $2.76 | 3.0% | 30.6% | $88.96 | 5.5% | 1 |
| $97.00 | 5.8% | $1.97 | 2.2% | 21.8% | $89.75 | 7.9% | 16 |
| $101.00 | 10.1% | $1.53 | 1.7% | 16.9% | $90.19 | 11.8% | 26 |
What the $94.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $91.72. Profit caps at $504.50 if CVS finishes above $94.00; below $88.96 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $68.79 | $-20.17 | $-2,016.50 |
| $74.52 | $-14.43 | $-1,443.25 |
| $80.26 | $-8.70 | $-870.00 |
| $85.99 | $-2.97 | $-296.75 |
| $91.72 | +$2.76 | +$276.50 |
| $97.45 | +$5.05 | +$504.50 |
| $103.19 | +$5.05 | +$504.50 |
| $108.92 | +$5.05 | +$504.50 |
| $114.65 | +$5.05 | +$504.50 |
When a covered call fits CVS
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 CVS 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 CVS loaded.
Questions
- What does a CVS covered call pay right now?
- The $94.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $2.76 per share, 3.0% of the $91.72 share price, or 30.6% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a CVS covered call?
- Selling the $94.00 call against stock bought at $91.72 breaks even at $88.96 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if CVS closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $94.00. Total return is 5.5%: the premium plus the move from $91.72 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on CVS
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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.