Reasoned Markets

Decision tool

Options profit/loss calculator

Understand how a single option position responds to an underlying price at expiry before assessing its risk. This tool does not price early exits or recommend a trade.

Calculator

Model one option at expiry

Illustrative defaults. Use the same currency for every price; inputs stay in memory.

Call: right to buy. Put: right to sell.

Long buys the option; short sells an uncovered option. No stock hedge is included.

The contract exercise price; greater than zero.

Paid when long; received when short. Enter a positive per-unit price, not the contract total.

Positive whole number of identical contracts.

Default 100. Confirm the actual contract; adjusted or nonstandard deliverables are not modeled.

A hypothetical price, zero or greater; not a forecast.

Method

Formula and logic

Call intrinsic value = max(expiry price − strike, 0). Put intrinsic value = max(strike − expiry price, 0). Long P/L = (intrinsic value − premium) × contracts × multiplier. Short P/L reverses that sign.

Call breakeven = strike + premium. Put breakeven = strike − premium; a negative result means no attainable breakeven in this nonnegative-price model.

Long-call profit and short-call loss are unlimited. Long-option loss and short-option profit equal total premium. Put upside/downside is bounded by an underlying price of zero. When a put premium exceeds strike, maximum long-put profit and short-put loss are zero; the model still reports actual scenario P/L.

Method references, checked September 23, 2026: OIC long call and FINRA options overview.

Verification

Worked example

Buy one call at strike 100 for premium 5, with multiplier 100. At expiry price 120, intrinsic value is 20 per unit and profit is 1,500 currency units. Breakeven is 105; maximum loss is 500. At or below strike, the entire premium is lost. All figures exclude costs.

Boundaries

Limitations

  • Only one vanilla call or put, a linear contract multiplier, and a nonnegative underlying price are modeled. No spreads, stock hedges, futures options, or adjusted deliverables.
  • No commissions, spread, slippage, taxes, financing, exercise fees, or assignment fees. Enter premium per underlying unit and verify the multiplier.
  • Before expiry, time value, volatility, interest rates, and dividends affect option value. Expiry breakeven is not an early-exit threshold.
  • Short options can be assigned early. Collateral, margin calls, settlement funding, and subsequent stock exposure require separate analysis. Maximum option loss does not describe every account-level risk.
  • No live quotes, probabilities, suitability assessment, or position sizing. Inputs are neither saved nor transmitted.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Why is there no expiry-date input?
This is a payoff-at-expiry model, not an option-pricing model. Time remaining does not enter this formula; all entered contracts represent one identical position.
Does the multiplier always equal 100?
No. Confirm the contract specification. This model supports a positive whole-number multiplier but cannot represent nonstandard deliverables such as mixed shares and cash.
Is a short call's loss limited to the table?
No. Without a stock hedge, a short call has theoretically unlimited loss as the underlying price rises. The table shows only selected scenarios.