ZM Covered Call
Every out-of-the-money ZM 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 $95.00 strike at 3.8% over 36 days.
Open interest and pricing as of the close on 2026-09-16. Recomputed every morning before the open.
ZM covered call candidates — Oct 23, 2026, 36 days out
Strikes are picked by distance from the $91.94 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $95.00 | 3.3% | $3.49 | 3.8% | 38.4% | $88.46 | 7.1% | 13 |
| $97.00 | 5.5% | $2.80 | 3.0% | 30.9% | $89.14 | 8.5% | 7 |
| $101.00 | 9.9% | $1.91 | 2.1% | 21.1% | $90.03 | 11.9% | 2 |
What the $95.00 call pays at expiration
One illustrative strike — the richest premium in the table — against 100 shares bought at $91.94. Profit caps at $654.50 if ZM finishes above $95.00; below $88.46 the premium stops covering the loss on the stock.
| Stock at expiration | Profit / loss per share | On 100 shares |
|---|---|---|
| $68.96 | $-19.50 | $-1,950.00 |
| $74.70 | $-13.75 | $-1,375.37 |
| $80.45 | $-8.01 | $-800.75 |
| $86.19 | $-2.26 | $-226.13 |
| $91.94 | +$3.49 | +$348.50 |
| $97.69 | +$6.55 | +$654.50 |
| $103.43 | +$6.55 | +$654.50 |
| $109.18 | +$6.55 | +$654.50 |
| $114.93 | +$6.55 | +$654.50 |
When a covered call fits ZM
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 ZM 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 ZM loaded.
Questions
- What does a ZM covered call pay right now?
- The $95.00 call expiring Oct 23, 2026 (36 days out) collects $3.49 per share, 3.8% of the $91.94 share price, or 38.4% annualised if you repeat it.
- What is the break-even on a ZM covered call?
- Selling the $95.00 call against stock bought at $91.94 breaks even at $88.46 — the share price less the premium. Below that the premium no longer covers the loss on the shares.
- What happens if ZM closes above the strike?
- The shares are called away at $95.00. Total return is 7.1%: the premium plus the move from $91.94 up to the strike. Gains above the strike belong to the buyer.
More on ZM
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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.