TEM Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money TEM 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 $73.00 strike at 8.6% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
TEM covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $69.97 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $72.00 | 2.9% | $5.85 | 8.4% | 84.8% | $64.12 | 11.3% | 56 |
| $73.00 | 4.3% | $6.03 | 8.6% | 87.3% | $63.95 | 12.9% | 10 |
| $77.00 | 10.0% | $4.90 | 7.0% | 71.0% | $65.07 | 17.1% | 1 |
What the $73.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $69.97. Profit caps at $905.50 if TEM finishes above $73.00; below $63.95 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $52.48 | $-11.47 | $-1,146.75 |
| $56.85 | $-7.09 | $-709.44 |
| $61.22 | $-2.72 | $-272.12 |
| $65.60 | +$1.65 | +$165.19 |
| $69.97 | +$6.03 | +$602.50 |
| $74.34 | +$9.06 | +$905.50 |
| $78.72 | +$9.06 | +$905.50 |
| $83.09 | +$9.06 | +$905.50 |
| $87.46 | +$9.06 | +$905.50 |
When a covered call fits TEM
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 TEM 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 TEM loaded.
Questions
- What does a TEM covered call pay right now?
- The $73.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $6.03 per share, 8.6% of the $69.97 share price, or 87.3% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a TEM covered call?
- Selling the $73.00 call against stock bought at $69.97 breaks even at $63.95 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if TEM closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $73.00. Total return is 12.9%: the premium plus the move from $69.97 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on TEM
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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.