GM Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money GM 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 $87.00 strike at 3.5% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
GM covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $84.29 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $87.00 | 3.2% | $2.92 | 3.5% | 35.1% | $81.38 | 6.7% | 4 |
| $89.00 | 5.6% | $2.29 | 2.7% | 27.5% | $82.00 | 8.3% | 12 |
| $93.00 | 10.3% | $1.55 | 1.8% | 18.6% | $82.75 | 12.2% | 0 |
What the $87.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $84.29. Profit caps at $562.50 if GM finishes above $87.00; below $81.38 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $63.22 | $-18.16 | $-1,815.75 |
| $68.49 | $-12.89 | $-1,288.94 |
| $73.75 | $-7.62 | $-762.13 |
| $79.02 | $-2.35 | $-235.31 |
| $84.29 | +$2.92 | +$291.50 |
| $89.56 | +$5.62 | +$562.50 |
| $94.83 | +$5.62 | +$562.50 |
| $100.09 | +$5.62 | +$562.50 |
| $105.36 | +$5.62 | +$562.50 |
When a covered call fits GM
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 GM 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 GM loaded.
Questions
- What does a GM covered call pay right now?
- The $87.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $2.92 per share, 3.5% of the $84.29 share price, or 35.1% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a GM covered call?
- Selling the $87.00 call against stock bought at $84.29 breaks even at $81.38 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if GM closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $87.00. Total return is 6.7%: the premium plus the move from $84.29 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.