LLY Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money LLY 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 $1,170.00 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.
LLY covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $1,137.82 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,170.00 | 2.8% | $33.80 | 3.0% | 30.1% | $1,104.02 | 5.8% | 6 |
| $1,195.00 | 5.0% | $25.05 | 2.2% | 22.3% | $1,112.77 | 7.2% | 8 |
| $1,250.00 | 9.9% | $13.13 | 1.2% | 11.7% | $1,124.70 | 11.0% | 15 |
What the $1,170.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $1,137.82. Profit caps at $6,598.00 if LLY finishes above $1,170.00; below $1,104.02 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $853.37 | $-250.65 | $-25,065.50 |
| $924.48 | $-179.54 | $-17,954.12 |
| $995.59 | $-108.43 | $-10,842.75 |
| $1,066.71 | $-37.31 | $-3,731.37 |
| $1,137.82 | +$33.80 | +$3,380.00 |
| $1,208.93 | +$65.98 | +$6,598.00 |
| $1,280.05 | +$65.98 | +$6,598.00 |
| $1,351.16 | +$65.98 | +$6,598.00 |
| $1,422.27 | +$65.98 | +$6,598.00 |
When a covered call fits LLY
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 LLY 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 LLY loaded.
Questions
- What does a LLY covered call pay right now?
- The $1,170.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $33.80 per share, 3.0% of the $1,137.82 share price, or 30.1% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a LLY covered call?
- Selling the $1,170.00 call against stock bought at $1,137.82 breaks even at $1,104.02 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if LLY closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $1,170.00. Total return is 5.8%: the premium plus the move from $1,137.82 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on LLY
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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.