NOW Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money NOW 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 $144.00 strike at 6.0% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
NOW covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $139.82 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $144.00 | 3.0% | $8.40 | 6.0% | 60.9% | $131.42 | 9.0% | 53 |
| $147.00 | 5.1% | $7.25 | 5.2% | 52.6% | $132.57 | 10.3% | 34 |
| $155.00 | 10.9% | $4.78 | 3.4% | 34.6% | $135.05 | 14.3% | 219 |
What the $144.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $139.82. Profit caps at $1,258.00 if NOW finishes above $144.00; below $131.42 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $104.87 | $-26.56 | $-2,655.50 |
| $113.60 | $-17.82 | $-1,781.63 |
| $122.34 | $-9.08 | $-907.75 |
| $131.08 | $-0.34 | $-33.88 |
| $139.82 | +$8.40 | +$840.00 |
| $148.56 | +$12.58 | +$1,258.00 |
| $157.30 | +$12.58 | +$1,258.00 |
| $166.04 | +$12.58 | +$1,258.00 |
| $174.77 | +$12.58 | +$1,258.00 |
When a covered call fits NOW
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 NOW 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 NOW loaded.
Questions
- What does a NOW covered call pay right now?
- The $144.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $8.40 per share, 6.0% of the $139.82 share price, or 60.9% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a NOW covered call?
- Selling the $144.00 call against stock bought at $139.82 breaks even at $131.42 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if NOW closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $144.00. Total return is 9.0%: the premium plus the move from $139.82 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.