T
The Daily Insight

Do you keep premium if covered call is exercised?

Author

Henry Morales

Published Mar 22, 2026

This gives rise to the term “covered” call because you are covered against unlimited losses in the event that the option goes in the money and is exercised. You do get to keep the premium you receive when you sell the option, but if the stock goes above the strike price, you have capped the amount you can make.

Can you lose the premium on a covered call?

A covered call strategy involves writing call options against a stock the investor owns to generate income and/or hedge risk. The maximum loss on a covered call strategy is limited to the price paid for the asset, minus the option premium received.

Do you keep premium if option expires?

Many become confused over when they receive options premium when they sell these instruments. The answer is that you don’t actually receive the premium until the transaction closes. This is because the trade doesn’t settle until the option expires.

What happens if a covered call expires worthless?

If you select OOTM covered calls and the stock remains flat or declines in value, the options should eventually expire worthless and you’ll get to keep the premium you received when they were sold, without further obligation.

Can I close my covered call before expiration?

So closing a covered call before it expires is as simple as doing the opposite as you did when you initiated the position. Whereas before you sold to open, now you buy to close the short call, in effect canceling it out.

Can I sell an option before expiration?

A trader can decide to sell an option before expiry if they believe this would be more profitable. This is because options have time value, which is the portion of an option’s premium attributable to the remaining time until the contract expires.

What happens if you sell a call before expiration?

You can buy or sell to “close” the position prior to expiration. The options expire out-of-the-money and worthless, so you do nothing. The options expire in-the-money, usually resulting in a trade of the underlying stock if the option is exercised.

Can you sell a call before expiration?

Since call options are derivative instruments, their prices are derived from the price of an underlying security, such as a stock. The buyer can also sell the options contract to another option buyer at any time before the expiration date, at the prevailing market price of the contract.

Can I still sell options on expiration day?

Typically options are sold up to one day before expiration but no one is interested in buying an option that has a good chance of almost immediate expire worthless. , Investor for nearly 40 years. Trader for past 20 as well. Yes, you will be able to sell at 3:59 PM but you may not like the price that is offered.

Can I close sell put options before expiration?

Can I sell my put options before expiration Robinhood?

As long as you already own enough shares of the stock to exercise your put, you can exercise your right to sell the shares at the strike price anytime before the option expires. The seller of the put is obligated to buy the shares from you at this price.