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Stock Options Payoff Calculator

Find the breakeven price, profit/loss, and max profit/loss at expiration for a long or short call or put, from the strike price, premium, and a hypothetical stock price.

Breakeven price at expiration
$105.00
Profit/loss per share
$5.00
Total profit/loss
$500.00
Max profit
Unlimited
Max loss
$500.00

How it works

At expiration, an option's only remaining value is its intrinsic value — any time value has already decayed to zero. For a call, that's max(stock price − strike, 0); for a put, it's max(strike − stock price, 0). Everything else follows from that one number and which side of the trade you're on.

A long position (you bought the option) paid the premium upfront and collects the intrinsic value at expiration, so profit per share = intrinsic value − premium. A short position (you sold/wrote the option) collected the premium upfront and owes the intrinsic value at expiration, so profit per share = premium − intrinsic value — the exact mirror image of the long side of the same contract.

Breakeven is the stock price where intrinsic value exactly equals the premium: strike + premium for a call, strike − premium for a put — the same breakeven applies to both the long and short side of a given call or put, since they only disagree on which side of it is profitable. A long call's upside is unlimited (a stock has no price ceiling), which makes a short call's downside unlimited too; every other combination is bounded, since a stock price can't fall below zero.

FAQ

Why is max profit 'Unlimited' for a long call?

A stock's price has no upper limit, and a long call's profit grows one-for-one with the stock price above the strike, so there's no ceiling on how much it could theoretically be worth at expiration. The mirror image is a short call's max loss, which is unlimited for the same reason.

What does 'short' mean here, and is the risk really different from 'long'?

Short means you sold (wrote) the option and collected the premium upfront, rather than buying it. Selling an option flips the risk profile: your maximum gain is capped at the premium you received, while your potential loss can be large (unlimited for a short call, or up to the strike price for a short put) — the opposite risk shape from buying, where your loss is capped at the premium you paid.

Does this account for the option's time value before expiration?

No — this is strictly an expiration payoff calculator. Before expiration, an option is also worth its remaining time value, which depends on volatility, time remaining, and interest rates — factors this calculator doesn't model. It answers 'what happens if I hold this to expiration and the stock ends up at this price,' not 'what is this option worth today.'

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