MO Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money MO 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 $72.00 strike at 2.0% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
MO covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $70.10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $72.00 | 2.7% | $1.37 | 2.0% | 19.8% | $68.73 | 4.7% | 113 |
| $74.00 | 5.6% | $0.77 | 1.1% | 11.1% | $69.33 | 6.7% | 39 |
| $77.00 | 9.8% | $0.28 | 0.4% | 4.0% | $69.82 | 10.2% | 5 |
What the $72.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $70.10. Profit caps at $327.00 if MO finishes above $72.00; below $68.73 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $52.57 | $-16.15 | $-1,615.50 |
| $56.96 | $-11.77 | $-1,177.37 |
| $61.34 | $-7.39 | $-739.25 |
| $65.72 | $-3.01 | $-301.12 |
| $70.10 | +$1.37 | +$137.00 |
| $74.48 | +$3.27 | +$327.00 |
| $78.86 | +$3.27 | +$327.00 |
| $83.24 | +$3.27 | +$327.00 |
| $87.63 | +$3.27 | +$327.00 |
When a covered call fits MO
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 MO 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 MO loaded.
Questions
- What does a MO covered call pay right now?
- The $72.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $1.37 per share, 2.0% of the $70.10 share price, or 19.8% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a MO covered call?
- Selling the $72.00 call against stock bought at $70.10 breaks even at $68.73 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if MO closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $72.00. Total return is 4.7%: the premium plus the move from $70.10 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on MO
Run the numbers
Weekly options-market digest
Sundays. What moved this week, what catalysts and earnings drive next week, and which 5-pillar setups stand out.
Free. One email per week. Unsubscribe with one click.
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.