Calculate profit, loss, breakeven, and maximum risk at expiry for long calls, long puts, short calls, and short puts. See the full P&L chart across every expiry price — before you place the trade.
A stock option gives you the right — but not the obligation — to buy or sell 100 shares of a stock at a fixed price (the strike price) before expiry. A call option profits when the stock rises above the strike. A put option profits when the stock falls below it. Each contract controls 100 shares, so a $5 premium per share costs $500 total — and that premium is your maximum loss on a long position.
The breakeven price is the stock price at expiry where your trade neither profits nor loses. For a long call it is the strike price plus the premium paid. For a long put it is the strike price minus the premium paid. If the stock lands exactly at breakeven at expiry, your P&L is zero — you recover the cost of the premium but nothing more. Anything above breakeven on a call, or below it on a put, is profit.
Short options — selling calls or puts — reverse the risk profile entirely. You receive the premium upfront and keep it if the option expires worthless. But a short call carries theoretically unlimited downside if the stock keeps rising above the breakeven price. A short put loses up to the full strike price minus premium if the stock crashes to zero. This calculator shows the complete P&L curve so you can see where every dollar of profit and loss comes from before entering a position.
These formulas calculate P&L at expiry only — based on intrinsic value. They do not model time decay (theta), implied volatility (vega), or delta. Before expiry, an option trades at intrinsic value plus time premium — this calculator shows the worst-case and best-case outcomes if you hold to expiry.
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