PANW Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money PANW 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 $385.00 strike at 5.6% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
PANW covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $375.65 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $385.00 | 2.5% | $21.15 | 5.6% | 57.1% | $354.50 | 8.1% | 27 |
| $395.00 | 5.2% | $16.95 | 4.5% | 45.7% | $358.70 | 9.7% | 24 |
| $415.00 | 10.5% | $11.40 | 3.0% | 30.8% | $364.25 | 13.5% | 15 |
What the $385.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $375.65. Profit caps at $3,050.00 if PANW finishes above $385.00; below $354.50 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $281.74 | $-72.76 | $-7,276.25 |
| $305.22 | $-49.28 | $-4,928.44 |
| $328.69 | $-25.81 | $-2,580.63 |
| $352.17 | $-2.33 | $-232.81 |
| $375.65 | +$21.15 | +$2,115.00 |
| $399.13 | +$30.50 | +$3,050.00 |
| $422.61 | +$30.50 | +$3,050.00 |
| $446.08 | +$30.50 | +$3,050.00 |
| $469.56 | +$30.50 | +$3,050.00 |
When a covered call fits PANW
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 PANW 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 PANW loaded.
Questions
- What does a PANW covered call pay right now?
- The $385.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $21.15 per share, 5.6% of the $375.65 share price, or 57.1% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a PANW covered call?
- Selling the $385.00 call against stock bought at $375.65 breaks even at $354.50 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if PANW closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $385.00. Total return is 8.1%: the premium plus the move from $375.65 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on PANW
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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.