Covered Call: how the position works
Own 100 shares and sell a call against them. The premium is income and a small cushion against a fall; the cost is that you have agreed to sell your shares at the strike, so everything above it belongs to the buyer. It is the most widely used options strategy and the most widely misunderstood: its risk is not the call, it is the stock you still own underneath.
- Market view
- Neutral to mildly bullish — income
- Opened for
- Debit or credit
- Maximum profit
- (K − cost basis) + premium received, if assigned at or above the strike.
- Maximum loss
- Cost basis − premium received, if the shares fall to zero. Substantial, and it is the stock's risk, not the option's.
- Breakeven
- Cost basis − premium received.
How it is built
- Hold 100 shares of the underlying
- Sell 1 call at strike K against them
All figures above are quoted per share and settle at expiry. A standard equity option covers 100 shares, so multiply by 100 for a single contract.
Before expiry: the Greeks
Net delta between 0 and 1 — long stock at 1 less the call's delta — so it is always less bullish than the shares alone. Short vega and positive theta from the call. Its payoff is identical to a short cash-secured put at the same strike, which is worth knowing because the two are usually discussed as though one were conservative and the other aggressive.
When to use it
On a holding you are willing to sell at the strike, in a market you expect to be flat or mildly higher. Selling calls on a position you intend to keep indefinitely eventually means either surrendering it in a rally or buying the call back at a loss to retain it.
What goes wrong
- The upside is capped and the downside is not. A single strong rally forfeits the gain that would have justified holding the stock at all.
- Assignment risk rises sharply before an ex-dividend date when the call is in the money, and the dividend is often the reason it is exercised early.
- It is not a hedge. The premium offsets a small fall and does nothing against a large one.
A worked example
Own 100 AAPL at a cost basis of 220, now trading 230. Sell the 240 call, 30 days out, for 4.10.
- Premium received
- $4.10 per share — $410
- Breakeven
- $215.90 (220 − 4.10)
- Maximum profit if assigned at 240
- $2,410 ((240 − 220 + 4.10) × 100)
- Return if unassigned and flat
- $410 on the premium alone
- Loss if AAPL falls to 190
- $2,590 ((220 − 190 − 4.10) × 100)
Commissions, exchange fees, financing and the bid/ask spread are excluded. On a multi-leg position the spread is usually the largest of these. Tax treatment of assignment varies by jurisdiction and holding period.
Common questions
What if the stock rises far above the strike?
You are assigned and sell at the strike, keeping the premium. The gain is capped at the maximum above. Buying the call back to keep the shares is possible but costs more than the premium you received, turning a profitable trade into a loss on the option leg.
Which strike gives the best income?
Lower strikes pay more premium and cap the upside sooner; higher strikes pay less and leave more room. There is no free lunch in the choice — the premium is compensation for exactly the upside you surrender.
Related strategies
- Cash-Secured PutNeutral to bullish — income or acquisition
- CollarNeutral — hedged, bounded
- Covered Futures CallNeutral to mildly bullish — income on a futures position
- Bear Call SpreadBearish to neutral — income
Educational only. This page explains how a structure behaves; it is not a recommendation to trade it. Options and futures carry substantial risk, and short and leveraged positions can lose more than the amount originally invested.