Free tool
Options Profit Calculator
What a call or put contract would make if you sell it at any given time. You enter the premium you paid, which is both what the contract costs you and the most you can lose, and the price at which you are considering selling it. The second mode works it out at expiration instead. If it finishes in the money at expiration, it is exercised automatically. Free, and nothing to sign up for.
Both prices are per share, as your broker quotes them, and one contract covers 100 shares. The selling price can be one you are considering rather than one you have taken.
Selling at $3.40 returns $0.90 a share more than you paid, which is $90.00 on 1 contract before fees.
Profit or loss across the same prices as the table. The line is the table drawn.
| Sold at | You get | Profit or loss | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.00 (expires worthless) | $0.00 | -$250.00 | -100% |
| $1.25 | $125.00 | -$125.00 | -50% |
| $1.88 | $188.00 | -$62.00 | -25% |
| $2.50 | $250.00 | $0.00 | 0% |
| $3.75 | $375.00 | $125.00 | +50% |
| $5.00 | $500.00 | $250.00 | +100% |
| $7.50 | $750.00 | $500.00 | +200% |
If the stock reaches a price
The least this contract can be worth if the stock gets there. What it actually sells for on the day is that floor plus whatever time value is left.
How to use it
A trade you are considering, or one you have made. Enter what you paid, the price you are thinking of selling at, and how many contracts. Buy at 2.50, sell at 3.40, one contract: it costs 250 dollars, you receive 340 dollars, the profit is 90 dollars and the return on the premium is 36 percent. The table underneath the calculator shows the same position at other selling prices, down to zero.
If the stock reaches a price. Open "Work it out" and enter the strike and the stock price you want to test. A 185 call with the stock at 190 is in the money by 5.00 a share, so it is worth at least 500 dollars. That is a floor. Whatever time value remains sits on top of it, so the contract will sell for more than that before expiration.
Held to expiration. The second tab. Enter the strike, the premium, the contracts and the stock price at expiry. A 100 call bought at 3.00 with the stock at 110 is worth 1,000 dollars and profits 700 dollars, and it breaks even at 103. Underneath, the tool says what exercising that contract involves.
Anything the tool cannot work out honestly, it declines. A blank field, a letter in a price, a zero strike or half a contract gives you an instruction instead of a number.
How options profit is calculated
Most positions are closed by selling the contract. You buy at one premium and sell at another. The difference is the trade. Every trade on our documented track record is measured that way, and most of them close within a few days to two weeks.
One contract covers 100 shares. A premium of 2.50 costs 250 dollars. A sale at 3.40 returns 340 dollars. The profit is 90 dollars and the return on the premium is 36 percent. Premiums are quoted per share and paid per contract.
The premium is the most you can lose. You know that figure before you place the trade. Our call options page covers what moves a premium.
A stock price on its own does not give you an exit premium. It gives you a floor. A call is worth at least the stock price minus the strike. A put is worth at least the strike minus the stock price. Both hold because the contract can be exercised at any time. Whatever time value remains sits on top of that floor.
At expiration only intrinsic value is left. That is where the break-even price comes from: the strike plus the premium on a call, the strike minus the premium on a put. A weekly option carries days of time value rather than months. At the strike itself a bought option is a total loss, so the stock has to clear the break-even price.
Using this on a weekly options trade
This doubles as a weekly options profit calculator, and the first mode is the one that fits. A weekly option has days of life rather than months, so the contract is bought and sold as a premium while it still has value in it.
A Weekly Options USA alert names the contract and the price it closed at, with our entry parameters and exit guidelines alongside. They are not directions. You place your own order at your own price, and when you close the position you sell the contract at whatever it is trading for then. The premium you paid and the price you are considering selling at are the two fields above, and every trade on the public record is published with the pair its percentage was measured from where one was recorded, so you can put most rows through this calculator and reproduce the percentage printed beside it.
How a trade is researched before any of that is set out on our methodology page, and what closing a position involves is covered in weekly options exit strategy. If you want the alerts themselves, see membership.
Common questions
How do you calculate profit on a call option?
It depends how the position ends. Most are closed by selling the contract before expiration. There, take the price you sell at, subtract the premium you paid, and multiply by 100 for each contract. Buy at 2.50 and sell at 3.40 and one contract makes 90 dollars. Held to expiration, take the stock price at expiration minus the strike, multiply by 100 for each contract, and subtract what you paid. If the stock finishes at or below the strike, the call expires worthless and you lose the premium.
How do you calculate profit on a put option?
The same two ways. Sold before expiration, it is the premium received less the premium paid, times 100 for each contract. Held to expiration, it is the strike minus the stock price at expiration, times 100 for each contract, less the premium paid. Above the strike the put expires worthless.
What is return on premium?
Profit divided by the premium paid. Buy a contract at 2.50 and sell it at 3.40 and the profit is 90 dollars on 250 dollars, so 36 percent. It is the figure every trade on our published record is kept in, because the premium is what was at risk.
What happens if I hold an option until expiration?
It settles in shares rather than cash. A US equity option that finishes a cent or more in the money is exercised automatically through the OCC, unless you give your broker a contrary instruction. Exercising a call buys 100 shares per contract at the strike, so a 100 strike is 10,000 dollars for one contract, and that cash has to be in the account. Exercising a put sells 100 shares per contract, which you have to hold or you end up short. Out of the money nothing is exercised and the contract expires worthless. One more thing the figure does not show: exercising leaves you holding or owing stock, so the profit is only real once those shares are sold, and exercise settles overnight, which puts that sale on the next trading day at whatever the stock does by then. Selling the contract before expiration settles in cash on the day, and most positions are closed that way.
How much can I lose buying an option?
When you buy a call or a put, the premium you paid is the most you can lose. You know that figure before you place the trade. Selling options you do not own carries a different risk profile and this calculator does not cover it.
If the stock reaches my target, what will my option be worth?
The floor can be worked out and the exact price cannot. A call is worth at least the stock price minus the strike, a put at least the strike minus the stock price, because a US equity option can be exercised on the spot and so cannot trade below that. What it sells for on the day is that floor plus whatever time value is left, and time value moves with the days remaining and with implied volatility.
What is the break-even price on an option?
There are two, and they answer different questions. Held to expiration, a call breaks even at the strike plus the premium per share and a put at the strike minus the premium. Sold before expiration, it breaks even at the premium you paid for it, whatever the stock is doing.
Does this work as a weekly options profit calculator?
Yes, and the first mode is the one to use. A weekly option has days of life rather than months, so the position is normally bought and sold as a premium rather than carried to expiration. Enter what you paid and the price you are considering selling at. The expiration mode still applies on the last day, when only intrinsic value is left.
Does this account for time value?
The first mode needs no such thing, because you supply both premiums and time value is already inside them. The expiration mode gives the value at expiration, when only intrinsic value is left, so the figures there sit below what the same option would fetch earlier in its life. Pricing that gap needs volatility inputs nobody has to hand, so this calculator does not attempt it.
Why is one contract 100 shares?
Standard US equity options are written on 100 shares, so a premium quoted at 3.00 costs 300 dollars for one contract. Premiums are quoted per share and paid per contract.
Where to go next
See every weekly options expiration date, which stocks have the most active weekly options, or our documented track record of every trade we have published since 2020, wins and losses. Everything free in one place is on our tools page.
Weekly Options USA is a publisher of general trading research and education, not a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer. Everything we publish is general information only, never personal advice or a recommendation tailored to you, and you make your own trading decisions. Options trading carries substantial risk, including leverage, volatility, and the loss of your entire investment, and is not suitable for everyone. We guarantee no profit, accuracy or outcome. Past performance, including any results shown on this site, does not guarantee future results. Only trade with money you can afford to lose.