PYPL Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money PYPL 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 $54.00 strike at 3.7% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
PYPL covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $52.71 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $54.00 | 2.4% | $1.92 | 3.7% | 37.0% | $50.79 | 6.1% | 25 |
| $55.00 | 4.3% | $1.51 | 2.9% | 29.0% | $51.20 | 7.2% | 41 |
| $58.00 | 10.0% | $0.73 | 1.4% | 14.0% | $51.98 | 11.4% | 33 |
What the $54.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $52.71. Profit caps at $321.50 if PYPL finishes above $54.00; below $50.79 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $39.53 | $-11.25 | $-1,125.25 |
| $42.83 | $-7.96 | $-795.81 |
| $46.12 | $-4.66 | $-466.37 |
| $49.42 | $-1.37 | $-136.94 |
| $52.71 | +$1.92 | +$192.50 |
| $56.00 | +$3.21 | +$321.50 |
| $59.30 | +$3.21 | +$321.50 |
| $62.59 | +$3.21 | +$321.50 |
| $65.89 | +$3.21 | +$321.50 |
When a covered call fits PYPL
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 PYPL 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 PYPL loaded.
Questions
- What does a PYPL covered call pay right now?
- The $54.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $1.92 per share, 3.7% of the $52.71 share price, or 37.0% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a PYPL covered call?
- Selling the $54.00 call against stock bought at $52.71 breaks even at $50.79 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if PYPL closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $54.00. Total return is 6.1%: the premium plus the move from $52.71 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on PYPL
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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.