PL Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money PL 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 $17.00 strike at 6.2% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
PL covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $16.02 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $17.00 | 6.1% | $1.00 | 6.2% | 63.3% | $15.02 | 12.4% | 90 |
| $18.00 | 12.4% | $0.68 | 4.2% | 42.7% | $15.34 | 16.6% | 26 |
What the $17.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $16.02. Profit caps at $198.00 if PL finishes above $17.00; below $15.02 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $12.02 | $-3.00 | $-300.50 |
| $13.02 | $-2.00 | $-200.38 |
| $14.02 | $-1.00 | $-100.25 |
| $15.02 | $-0.00 | $-0.12 |
| $16.02 | +$1.00 | +$100.00 |
| $17.02 | +$1.98 | +$198.00 |
| $18.02 | +$1.98 | +$198.00 |
| $19.02 | +$1.98 | +$198.00 |
| $20.03 | +$1.98 | +$198.00 |
When a covered call fits PL
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 PL 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 PL loaded.
Questions
- What does a PL covered call pay right now?
- The $17.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $1.00 per share, 6.2% of the $16.02 share price, or 63.3% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a PL covered call?
- Selling the $17.00 call against stock bought at $16.02 breaks even at $15.02 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if PL closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $17.00. Total return is 12.4%: the premium plus the move from $16.02 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.