S Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money S 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 $24.00 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.
S covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $23.17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $24.00 | 3.6% | $1.30 | 5.6% | 56.9% | $21.87 | 9.2% | 10 |
| $24.50 | 5.7% | $1.13 | 4.9% | 49.2% | $22.05 | 10.6% | 4 |
| $25.50 | 10.1% | $0.83 | 3.6% | 36.1% | $22.35 | 13.6% | 1 |
What the $24.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $23.17. Profit caps at $213.00 if S finishes above $24.00; below $21.87 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $17.38 | $-4.49 | $-449.25 |
| $18.83 | $-3.04 | $-304.44 |
| $20.27 | $-1.60 | $-159.63 |
| $21.72 | $-0.15 | $-14.81 |
| $23.17 | +$1.30 | +$130.00 |
| $24.62 | +$2.13 | +$213.00 |
| $26.07 | +$2.13 | +$213.00 |
| $27.51 | +$2.13 | +$213.00 |
| $28.96 | +$2.13 | +$213.00 |
When a covered call fits S
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 S 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 S loaded.
Questions
- What does a S covered call pay right now?
- The $24.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $1.30 per share, 5.6% of the $23.17 share price, or 56.9% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a S covered call?
- Selling the $24.00 call against stock bought at $23.17 breaks even at $21.87 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if S closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $24.00. Total return is 9.2%: the premium plus the move from $23.17 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on S
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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.