SMR Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money SMR 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 $8.50 strike at 8.7% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
SMR covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $8.30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $8.50 | 2.4% | $0.73 | 8.7% | 88.6% | $7.58 | 11.1% | 40 |
| $9.00 | 8.4% | $0.54 | 6.5% | 66.0% | $7.76 | 14.9% | 108 |
What the $8.50 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $8.30. Profit caps at $92.50 if SMR finishes above $8.50; below $7.58 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $6.23 | $-1.35 | $-135.00 |
| $6.74 | $-0.83 | $-83.13 |
| $7.26 | $-0.31 | $-31.25 |
| $7.78 | +$0.21 | +$20.62 |
| $8.30 | +$0.73 | +$72.50 |
| $8.82 | +$0.92 | +$92.50 |
| $9.34 | +$0.92 | +$92.50 |
| $9.86 | +$0.92 | +$92.50 |
| $10.38 | +$0.92 | +$92.50 |
When a covered call fits SMR
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 SMR 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 SMR loaded.
Questions
- What does a SMR covered call pay right now?
- The $8.50 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $0.73 per share, 8.7% of the $8.30 share price, or 88.6% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a SMR covered call?
- Selling the $8.50 call against stock bought at $8.30 breaks even at $7.58 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if SMR closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $8.50. Total return is 11.1%: the premium plus the move from $8.30 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on SMR
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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.