How to Use the Options Profit Calculator
Open a stock's option chain and click an ask to buy that option or a bid to sell it: the Options Profit Calculator opens with that leg. Add the other legs the same way and click Run Analysis to chart the position's profit or loss across stock prices at expiration, with its breakeven, max gain, max loss and historical win rate.
What is an options profit calculator?
An options profit calculator shows what an option trade would make or lose at different stock prices. On Market Chameleon it opens from a stock's option chain: pick the options by clicking their prices, and the Options Profit Calculator charts the position's gain or loss at expiration - and on an earlier date if you choose one - with its breakeven, maximum gain and loss, Greeks and a historical win rate. It handles single options, spreads, straddles, butterflies, calendars and positions that include stock.
A stock's Strategy Payout page is the simpler payoff diagram: pick a preset such as a straddle or a call spread and see its profit or loss at expiration. It is covered below.
How the calculator works
- Legs from the option chain. Clicking an option's ask adds it as a purchase priced at the ask; clicking its bid adds it as a sale priced at the bid - prices you could trade at now, not the midpoint. Click a selected price again to remove the leg. A new leg takes the expiration the chain is showing.
- Leg inputs. Each leg has an Action (Buy or Sell), Expiration, Opt Type (Call or Put), Strike, Ratio (the number of contracts) and Price. Type a different price to model another fill; the reset icon puts the market price back. Icons under the table swap every leg's action and move all strikes up or down.
- Stock. + Stock Inputs adds shares bought or sold, in lots of 100, at the current price or one you type: covered calls, protective puts and collars.
- The chart. Run Analysis draws the position's gain or loss at the first expiration across a range of stock prices, in dollars for the whole position (100 shares per contract), green above zero and red below. The current stock price is marked, with a line one standard deviation either side, sized from the at-the-money straddle price. Legs that expire later, as in a calendar, are valued at their implied volatility with a binomial model.
- The numbers under the chart. For a vertical spread, single option, straddle, strangle, butterfly or condor: the breakeven and the distance to it, the stock price for the maximum gain, Max Gain $ and %, Amount at Risk and the yield if the stock doesn't move, per share. Above the chart: the strategy's midpoint and bid-ask, and its Greeks.
- Chart settings. Compare Payout on Date adds a second line for the position's value at the end of a day before expiration. You can also widen the stock range (up to ±20%), change the standard-deviation lines, and show past or implied earnings moves.
- More tabs. Pricing & Risk Sensitivity gives the gain or loss and Greeks for stock moves of different sizes, with your own days to expiration, implied volatility and interest rate; Payout Diagram redraws the chart with each leg's IV and date as you set them; Distribution Theo compares the price with the strategy's historical value.
Anyone can open the calculator and set up legs; running the analysis is for Premium Options and Premium members.
Step by step
- 1Open a stock's option chain, for example /Overview/SPY/OptionChain/, and pick an expiration.
- 2Click the ask of an option to buy it, or the bid to sell it. The calculator opens on the page with that leg.
- 3Click more prices to add legs - for a bull call spread, the ask of one call and the bid of a higher-strike call.
- 4Check the Option Leg Inputs: change a ratio, expiration or price if you need to, and add shares under + Stock Inputs.
- 5Click Run Analysis. Read the chart and the numbers under it; open + Open Chart Settings to add a date before expiration.
- 6To keep or share the setup, click the share icon above the results: it copies a link that reopens the chain with the same legs.
Worked example: a bull call spread
The stock is at $100. Click the 100 call's ask of 3.20 and the 105 call's bid of 1.20: buy the 100 call, sell the 105 call, a net debit of 2.00, or $200 for one contract of each. At expiration:
| Stock at expiration | Per share | One contract (on the chart) |
|---|---|---|
| $100 or below | −2.00 | −$200 |
| $102 (breakeven) | 0.00 | $0 |
| $104 | +2.00 | +$200 |
| $105 or above | +3.00 | +$300 |
Under the chart the calculator shows the same trade per share: Break-Even 102.00 and the +2.0% the stock needs to reach it, Max Gain at 105.00, Max Gain $ 3.00 (the $5 between the strikes minus the 2.00 paid), Max Gain % +150.0% and Amount at Risk 2.00.
Round numbers to show the math, not a trade idea. Commissions and fees are left out; the calculator has no fee input.
What you can find out
How do I use an options profit calculator?
On Market Chameleon, build the trade on the option chain by clicking the prices you would trade at - asks to buy, bids to sell - then click Run Analysis. See the steps
How do I see the P&L of an option spread at expiration?
Add both legs from the chain and run the analysis: the chart shows the spread's gain or loss at expiration at each stock price in range, and the breakeven, max gain and max loss are under it. Spreads on the Bull Call Spread screener, on trade cards and on an option's Multi-Leg Trades tab open the chain with their legs already loaded. See the worked example
How is probability of profit calculated?
The calculator doesn't compute a probability of profit from implied volatility. It shows a historical win rate instead (Hist Win Rate on Summary, Historical Win Rate on Distribution Theo): the share of past periods in which the strategy, at today's price, would have ended with a gain. The periods are as long as the time left to the first expiration, from 4 years of the stock's history by default; if earnings fall before expiration only past periods with an earnings report count, otherwise only periods without one; and by default only periods when the stock's 30-day implied volatility was near today's. It is worked out when all legs share one expiration. How theoretical value and win rate work
What is my trade worth before expiration?
Pick a day in Compare Payout on Date: a second line shows the position's value at the end of that day across stock prices, valued at each leg's current implied volatility. To try a different volatility, set each leg's IV and date on the Payout Diagram tab.
Where does my trade break even, and what's the most it can lose?
For the common strategies, the numbers under the chart give the breakeven and the distance to it, Max Gain and Amount at Risk. For other combinations, read the chart: the breakeven is where the line crosses zero, and the lowest point in the range is the worst case shown.
Where to find it
- On the option chain. The calculator has no entry of its own in the top menu: it opens on any stock's option chain (OPTIONS › Option Chain on the stock's page) when you click a bid or ask.
- With the legs loaded. The Expiration link on the Bull Call Spread screener and the other vertical spread screeners, the Option Chain link on trade cards, and the arrow on an option contract's Multi-Leg Trades tab open the chain with the trade already in the calculator.
- Strategy Payout: OPTIONS › Strategy Payout on the stock's page, for example /Overview/SPY/StrategyPayout/.
Strategy Payout: the quick payoff diagram
The Option Strategy Payout Diagram draws a strategy's profit and loss at expiration from a preset: Long or Short ATM Straddle, Buy-Write, Risk Reversal, Long or Short Call Spread, Long or Short Put Spread, Long or Short Strangle, Long Iron Butterfly or Long Iron Condor. Pick an expiration and a preset, or build your own from shares of stock and a strike and ratio for a long call, long put, short call and short put, then click Reload Diagram.
- Prices are the midpoint of the bid and ask, from delayed data, rather than the bid and ask you would trade at.
- It shows the payoff at expiration only: no earlier date, breakeven or max-loss figures, and no win rate.
- Read the values per share; one contract covers 100 shares.
- It needs no subscription. For prices you can trade at and the full analysis, use the Options Profit Calculator.
FAQ
- Is the Options Profit Calculator free?
- Anyone can open it on an option chain and set up legs. Running the analysis is for Premium Options and Premium members. The simpler Strategy Payout diagram needs no subscription.
- Which prices does it use?
- The ask for a leg you buy and the bid for a leg you sell: prices you could trade at now. Type your own price to model a limit order; the reset icon puts the market price back. Strategy Payout uses the midpoint of the bid and ask, from delayed data.
- Can I include shares of stock?
- Yes. + Stock Inputs adds shares bought or sold, for covered calls, protective puts and collars.
- Why don't I see a breakeven or max gain for my strategy?
- The figures under the chart cover vertical spreads in one expiration, single options, straddles, strangles, butterflies and condors. Other combinations, such as calendars, get the chart without them.
- Can I save or share a strategy?
- Yes. The share icon above the results copies a link that reopens the option chain with the same legs loaded.
- Does the calculator include commissions?
- No. There is no fee input, so subtract your broker's costs yourself.
Related
Theoretical Edge How to find a bull call spread for a stock Option strategies Reading an options chainTerms on this page
Breakeven Payoff diagram Implied volatility Win rate DeltaMarket Chameleon provides data, not investment advice.