HL Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money HL 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 $18.50 strike at 6.6% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
HL covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $17.99 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $18.50 | 2.8% | $1.19 | 6.6% | 67.1% | $16.80 | 9.4% | 2 |
| $19.00 | 5.6% | $0.99 | 5.5% | 55.8% | $17.00 | 11.1% | 219 |
| $20.00 | 11.2% | $0.72 | 4.0% | 40.3% | $17.28 | 15.1% | 52 |
What the $18.50 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $17.99. Profit caps at $170.00 if HL finishes above $18.50; below $16.80 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $13.49 | $-3.31 | $-330.75 |
| $14.62 | $-2.18 | $-218.31 |
| $15.74 | $-1.06 | $-105.87 |
| $16.87 | +$0.07 | +$6.56 |
| $17.99 | +$1.19 | +$119.00 |
| $19.11 | +$1.70 | +$170.00 |
| $20.24 | +$1.70 | +$170.00 |
| $21.36 | +$1.70 | +$170.00 |
| $22.49 | +$1.70 | +$170.00 |
When a covered call fits HL
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 HL 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 HL loaded.
Questions
- What does a HL covered call pay right now?
- The $18.50 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $1.19 per share, 6.6% of the $17.99 share price, or 67.1% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a HL covered call?
- Selling the $18.50 call against stock bought at $17.99 breaks even at $16.80 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if HL closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $18.50. Total return is 9.4%: the premium plus the move from $17.99 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on HL
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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.