QQQ Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money QQQ call expiring Sep 24, 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 $726.00 strike at 0.1% over 7 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
QQQ covered call candidates — Sep 24, 2026, 7 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $704.72 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 — 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $726.00 | 3.0% | $0.83 | 0.1% | 6.1% | $703.89 | 3.1% | 293 |
| $740.00 | 5.0% | $0.08 | 0.0% | 0.6% | $704.65 | 5.0% | 707 |
What the $726.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $704.72. Profit caps at $2,211.00 if QQQ finishes above $726.00; below $703.89 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $528.54 | $-175.35 | $-17,535.00 |
| $572.59 | $-131.30 | $-13,130.50 |
| $616.63 | $-87.26 | $-8,726.00 |
| $660.68 | $-43.22 | $-4,321.50 |
| $704.72 | +$0.83 | +$83.00 |
| $748.77 | +$22.11 | +$2,211.00 |
| $792.81 | +$22.11 | +$2,211.00 |
| $836.86 | +$22.11 | +$2,211.00 |
| $880.90 | +$22.11 | +$2,211.00 |
When a covered call fits QQQ
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 QQQ 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 QQQ loaded.
Questions
- What does a QQQ covered call pay right now?
- The $726.00 call expiring Sep 24, 2026 (7 days out) collects $0.83 per share, 0.1% of the $704.72 share price, or 6.1% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a QQQ covered call?
- Selling the $726.00 call against stock bought at $704.72 breaks even at $703.89 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if QQQ closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $726.00. Total return is 3.1%: the premium plus the move from $704.72 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on QQQ
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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.