QBTS Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money QBTS 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 6.8% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
QBTS covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $16.27 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 | 4.5% | $1.11 | 6.8% | 69.2% | $15.16 | 11.3% | 33 |
| $18.00 | 10.6% | $0.87 | 5.3% | 54.2% | $15.40 | 16.0% | 43 |
What the $17.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $16.27. Profit caps at $184.00 if QBTS finishes above $17.00; below $15.16 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $12.20 | $-2.96 | $-295.75 |
| $13.22 | $-1.94 | $-194.06 |
| $14.24 | $-0.92 | $-92.37 |
| $15.25 | +$0.09 | +$9.31 |
| $16.27 | +$1.11 | +$111.00 |
| $17.29 | +$1.84 | +$184.00 |
| $18.30 | +$1.84 | +$184.00 |
| $19.32 | +$1.84 | +$184.00 |
| $20.34 | +$1.84 | +$184.00 |
When a covered call fits QBTS
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 QBTS 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 QBTS loaded.
Questions
- What does a QBTS covered call pay right now?
- The $17.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $1.11 per share, 6.8% of the $16.27 share price, or 69.2% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a QBTS covered call?
- Selling the $17.00 call against stock bought at $16.27 breaks even at $15.16 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if QBTS closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $17.00. Total return is 11.3%: the premium plus the move from $16.27 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on QBTS
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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.