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Best strikes for LDOS covered calls — top pick $155 with 60.8% annualized return.
Leidos — Top covered call setups ranked by yield and downside protection
Leidos (LDOS) is a Industrials stock with actively traded listed options. Among current candidates, the strongest income setup sits at the $155 strike with 12 days to expiration. IV Rank 77% is 8pp above the Industrials sector median of 69%. This setup offers higher income potential, but caps upside at the strike. LDOS wheel strategy.
Strike Placement
60.8% ann.Ranked #1 of 6 contracts by CC Score — balancing call yield, downside protection, and liquidity.
CC Score = Income (22%) + Safety (18%) + Liquidity (18%) + Quality (14%) + Event (12%) + IV (8%) + Execution (8%)Annualized return, delta, bid-ask spread, open interest, earnings proximity, IV rank, DTE
VolRadar proprietary composite score using ORATS chain data
CC Score optimizes for income generation, not total return. Covered calls cap upside — stocks that rally strongly will underperform a buy-and-hold approach. Past CC returns do not predict future yields.
Every covered call strike sorted by CC Score. Higher score = better risk-adjusted income potential.
★ = Highest risk-adjusted CC Score across all expirations and strikes.
| Strike | Premium | Ann. Yield* | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| $155★ TOP⚠️ Spans earnings | $2.98 | 60.8% | 59 |
| $160⚠️ Spans earnings |
Yield is only half the decision. Compare expirations by premium, upside cap, gamma risk, and assignment risk before choosing a contract.
Quantitative screening, not investment advice. Verify with your broker. Disclaimer
Leidos's IV Rank sits at 77%, placing implied volatility above its 12-month norm. For covered call sellers, this means richer premiums per contract — the same strike and DTE commands more income when IV is expanded. This is one of the most favorable conditions for initiating or rolling covered calls.
Leidos has earnings in 1 days. Selling covered calls into earnings carries IV crush risk — premiums are inflated by the event but collapse after the announcement. Consider expirations that expire before the earnings date, or accept that post-earnings IV contraction will reduce the remaining time value.
The bid-ask spread is 21.8% on the top-ranked strike with open interest of 165. Wider spreads increase slippage — the difference between the theoretical mid-price and your actual fill. Use limit orders at or near the mid price, avoid market orders, and consider whether the spread erodes a meaningful portion of the premium collected. If fills are consistently poor, look at more liquid expirations or strikes closer to the money.
The top-ranked covered call for Leidos is the $155 strike expiring 2026-05-15 (12 DTE), offering 60.8% annualized return with a delta of 0.35. It earns a CC Score of 59 out of 100. Data is updated daily after market close.
For Leidos, delta 0.20–0.30 is a common range for covered calls. This gives 70–80% probability of the option expiring worthless while collecting meaningful premium. Lower delta (0.15–0.20) is more conservative, while 0.30–0.40 generates more income but has higher assignment probability.
The CC Score (0–100) ranks covered call opportunities across 7 dimensions: Income potential (22%), Safety (18%), Liquidity (18%), Underlying Quality (14%), Event Safety (12%), IV Opportunity (8%), and Execution Quality (8%). Higher scores mean better risk-adjusted opportunities. Sort by CC Score to find the best strike and expiration combo for Leidos.
Free embeddable tool: IV Rank Gauge — add live IV data to any site. No signup, no API key.
This is ★ Top Ranked of 6 contracts across 2 expirations. ↓ Find it below
| $1.60 |
| 32.7% |
| 56 |
| $150⚠️ Spans earnings | $4.85 | 99.1% | 52 |
| Strike | Premium | Ann. Yield* | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| $165⚠️ Spans earnings | $2.10 | 11.2% | 57 |
| $160⚠️ Spans earnings | $3.30 | 17.6% | 57 |
| $155⚠️ Spans earnings | $5.05 | 26.9% | 57 |
*Annualized yield assumes hold to expiration with no early assignment. Actual results may vary.
Weekly covered calls (7–14 DTE) offer faster theta decay and more flexibility but require active management. Monthly covered calls (30–45 DTE) balance time premium with less frequent rolling. For Leidos, current elevated IV makes both viable — weeklies capture the rich premium faster. The CC Score ranks both DTE ranges so you can compare directly.
The primary risk is capped upside: if Leidos rallies sharply, you are obligated to sell at the strike price and miss gains above it. At the current top-ranked $155 strike (4.2% OTM), any rally beyond that level means you sell shares below market price. This risk is amplified with earnings in 1 days — a positive surprise can trigger a gap above your strike overnight, locking in the loss of upside before you can react. To contextualize: covered calls are best suited for sideways-to-mildly-bullish outlooks. If you expect a significant move higher, consider waiting to sell the call or using a wider strike. The CC Score penalizes strikes with elevated event risk to help you avoid the worst setups.
Leidos currently has an IV Rank of 77%. IV is elevated, meaning option premiums are richer than usual — a favorable environment for selling covered calls. Higher IV translates directly to more income per contract for the same strike distance.
Leidos has earnings in 1 days. Selling covered calls into earnings is a double-edged sword: premiums are inflated by event IV, but post-earnings IV crush reduces remaining time value. Many traders choose expirations that expire before the earnings date or accept the crush as part of the premium collected.