Options Profit Calculator and Expected Move Calculator
Enter a position and see its payoff at expiration, its breakevens, and the most it can make or lose. Ten positions are covered, from a single long call to the four vertical spreads. There is an expected move calculator underneath. Everything runs in your browser from the numbers you type, so no account is needed and no data leaves the page. Other sites charge a subscription for this.
Your position
One call bought. Loss is capped at the premium, profit rises with the underlying.
Long call
Payoff at expiration
- Breakeven
- 106.00
- Max profit
- Unlimited
- Max loss
- -$600.00
- Net debit paid
- $600.00
| Underlying at expiration | Profit or loss |
|---|---|
| 80.00 | -$600.00 |
| 86.25 | -$600.00 |
| 92.50 | -$600.00 |
| 98.75 | -$600.00 |
| 105.00 | -$100.00 |
| 111.25 | $525.00 |
| 117.50 | $1,150.00 |
| 123.75 | $1,775.00 |
| 130.00 | $2,400.00 |
Theoretical payoff at expiration, computed from the numbers entered above and nothing else. It ignores early assignment, dividends, borrow and financing costs, commissions and slippage. American style options can be assigned before expiry, and once that happens the curve above no longer describes the position. Nothing here is advice.
Expected move calculator
expected move = spot × IV × √(DTE / 365)
- 1 sigma move
- 229.35 (4.59%)
- 1 sigma range
- 4,770.65 to 5,229.35
- 2 sigma move
- 458.71
- 2 sigma range
- 4,541.29 to 5,458.71
This is the lognormal approximation the options market quotes, not a forecast. It reads one implied volatility as if it described the whole distribution, when the volatility surface is skewed and the number on a chain belongs to a single strike. Under the model roughly 68 percent of outcomes land inside one sigma and 95 percent inside two, which is a statement about the model rather than about the next month. Calendar days, not trading days, to match the 365 denominator.
How to read a payoff diagram
A payoff diagram answers one narrow question: if the underlying finishes at some price on expiration day, what is the position worth? The horizontal axis is that finishing price. The vertical axis is profit or loss in dollars. The dashed line across the middle is zero, and every point where the curve crosses it is a breakeven.
Start with the shape rather than the numbers. A line that keeps rising to the right, like a long call, has no ceiling on the profit side, which is why the maximum profit reads as unlimited rather than as a figure. A line that goes flat has a ceiling, and the flat section begins at the strike that caps it. A line that is flat at both ends belongs to a spread, where the best and the worst outcome are both known before the position is on. A line that slopes downward on the right, such as a covered call above its strike, has traded that upside away for the premium collected.
The corners matter more than the slopes. Every kink in the curve sits exactly on a strike, because a strike is where an option starts or stops having intrinsic value. Counting corners left to right identifies the position on sight: one corner is a single option, two corners is a spread or a strangle, and a single corner at the bottom of a V is a straddle.
Then find the breakevens, marked on the chart where the curve meets zero. A single leg position has one. A straddle or a strangle has two, one either side, and the gap between them is the move the position needs before it makes anything at all. That gap is the number worth holding up against the expected move: if the option market is pricing a one sigma move smaller than the distance to the nearer breakeven, the position is asking for an outcome that is not currently being paid for.
Read the two extremes last, against the size of the position. The maximum loss shown here is the worst outcome at expiration. For a long option that is the premium. For a cash secured put it is the strike less the credit, and it arrives only if the underlying goes to zero. Both are expiration figures, and a position can sit far away from either of them for its whole life. An American style option can also be assigned before expiry, and once that happens the diagram no longer describes what is held.
Theoretical payoff at expiration from the numbers entered. It ignores early assignment, dividends, borrow and financing costs, commissions and slippage. The expected move is a lognormal approximation, not a forecast. Nothing on this page is advice.
Questions
What does this options profit calculator do?
It draws the theoretical payoff at expiration for the position you enter, and reports the breakevens, the maximum profit and the maximum loss in dollars. It covers ten positions: long call, long put, covered call, cash secured put, the four vertical spreads, the long straddle and the long strangle. Every figure comes from the strikes, premiums and contract count you type. Nothing is fetched, and no account is needed.
Why does my broker show different numbers?
A broker screen shows the position marked at current option prices, which include time value. This page shows the payoff at expiration, when time value is gone and only intrinsic value is left. The two agree on expiration day and can differ widely before it. This calculator also ignores early assignment, dividends, borrow and financing costs, commissions and slippage, all of which a broker statement includes.
What is the expected move?
The expected move is the one standard deviation range the option market is pricing over a given number of days: spot times implied volatility times the square root of days to expiry divided by 365. It is a lognormal approximation rather than a forecast, and it reads a single implied volatility as if it described the whole distribution when the volatility surface is skewed. Under the model, about 68 percent of outcomes land inside one sigma and 95 percent inside two.
Is any of this investment advice?
No. This is a calculator and an explainer. SquawkFlow publishes market structure data and education, has no order execution, and does not give investment advice, price targets or trade recommendations.
Related
- Options greeks: delta, gamma, theta and vega covers what moves an option before expiration, which is the half this diagram leaves out.
- GEX calculator shows dealer gamma by strike for any covered US stock, from daily settled Cboe open interest.