GME Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money GME 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 $22.50 strike at 4.3% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
GME covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $21.98 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $22.50 | 2.4% | $0.94 | 4.3% | 43.4% | $21.04 | 6.6% | 56 |
| $23.00 | 4.6% | $0.93 | 4.2% | 42.7% | $21.06 | 8.8% | 571 |
| $24.00 | 9.2% | $0.71 | 3.2% | 32.8% | $21.27 | 12.4% | 300 |
What the $22.50 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $21.98. Profit caps at $146.00 if GME finishes above $22.50; below $21.04 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $16.49 | $-4.56 | $-455.50 |
| $17.86 | $-3.18 | $-318.13 |
| $19.23 | $-1.81 | $-180.75 |
| $20.61 | $-0.43 | $-43.38 |
| $21.98 | +$0.94 | +$94.00 |
| $23.35 | +$1.46 | +$146.00 |
| $24.73 | +$1.46 | +$146.00 |
| $26.10 | +$1.46 | +$146.00 |
| $27.48 | +$1.46 | +$146.00 |
When a covered call fits GME
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 GME 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 GME loaded.
Questions
- What does a GME covered call pay right now?
- The $22.50 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $0.94 per share, 4.3% of the $21.98 share price, or 43.4% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a GME covered call?
- Selling the $22.50 call against stock bought at $21.98 breaks even at $21.04 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if GME closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $22.50. Total return is 6.6%: the premium plus the move from $21.98 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on GME
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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.