T Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money T 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 $26.50 strike at 2.4% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
T covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $25.86 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $26.50 | 2.5% | $0.61 | 2.4% | 23.9% | $25.25 | 4.8% | 231 |
| $27.00 | 4.4% | $0.44 | 1.7% | 17.1% | $25.43 | 6.1% | 448 |
| $28.50 | 10.2% | $0.11 | 0.4% | 4.3% | $25.75 | 10.6% | 63 |
What the $26.50 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $25.86. Profit caps at $125.00 if T finishes above $26.50; below $25.25 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $19.40 | $-5.85 | $-585.50 |
| $21.01 | $-4.24 | $-423.87 |
| $22.63 | $-2.62 | $-262.25 |
| $24.24 | $-1.01 | $-100.63 |
| $25.86 | +$0.61 | +$61.00 |
| $27.48 | +$1.25 | +$125.00 |
| $29.09 | +$1.25 | +$125.00 |
| $30.71 | +$1.25 | +$125.00 |
| $32.33 | +$1.25 | +$125.00 |
When a covered call fits T
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 T 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 T loaded.
Questions
- What does a T covered call pay right now?
- The $26.50 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $0.61 per share, 2.4% of the $25.86 share price, or 23.9% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a T covered call?
- Selling the $26.50 call against stock bought at $25.86 breaks even at $25.25 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if T closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $26.50. Total return is 4.8%: the premium plus the move from $25.86 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on T
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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.