Covered Call Established in Amgen Inc.

Today, a net debit buy/write limit order was entered in Amgen Inc. (ticker AMGN) to buy 100 shares and simultaneously sell 1 Call option at the May 22nd, 2026 weekly options expiration date and at the $322.50 strike price. The net debit limit price for my order was $320.40 and this order was executed when 100 shares were purchased at $328.90 and 1 May 22nd, 2026 Call option was sold for $8.50 per share.  Therefore, a maximum potential time value profit from the Call was $2.10 per share = [$8.50 option premium - ($328.90 stock price - $322.50 strike price)] is available for this position.  

This position uses the Covered Calls Advisor's Dividend Capture Strategy since Amgen has an upcoming quarterly ex-dividend of $2.52 per share on May 15th which is prior to the May 22nd options expiration date.  This is equivalent to an annual dividend yield of 3.1% and an equivalent annualized dividend yield of a very high 25.4% = [($2.52/$328.90) x (365/11 days to expiration)].  This dividend is included in the return-on-investment calculations detailed below.  Either an early assignment on May 14th (the last trading day prior to the ex-dividend date) or on the May 22nd options expiration date would be desirable given the potential annualized return on investment for either outcome.  Importantly to the Covered Calls Advisor, there is no quarterly earnings report prior to the options expiration date since the next earnings report on August 4th, 2026 is more than two months after the May 22nd options expiration date.  

Amgen is one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies, generating revenue by discovering, developing, manufacturing, and marketing biologic medicines for serious diseases in areas such as oncology, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, and rare disorders. Its business model combines a portfolio of established blockbuster drugs with a deep pipeline of new therapies and biosimilars, creating recurring cash flow that funds ongoing research, acquisitions, and shareholder returns while supporting long-term growth. Amgen’s key competitive advantages include decades of biologics manufacturing expertise, large-scale global production infrastructure, a strong intellectual property portfolio, and extensive clinical, regulatory, and commercial capabilities that create high barriers to entry and help efficiently scale therapies worldwide.

As detailed below, two potential return-on-investment results are: 

•  +0.7% absolute return (equivalent to +59.6% annualized return-on-investment for the next 4 days) if the stock is assigned early (on the last business day prior to this Friday's May 15th ex-dividend date); or  
  

• +1.4% absolute return (equivalent to +47.6% annualized return-on-investment over the next 11 days) if the stock is assigned on the May 22nd, 2026 options expiration date.

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) -- New Covered Call Position

As shown on the table at the bottom of this post, eight of the nine criteria of my Dividend Capture Strategy are met with this position.  The probability that this Call option will expire in-the-money on the options expiration date was 70.8% when this position was established.   

The buy/write transaction was:

5/11/2026 Bought 100 Amgen Inc. shares @ $328.90
5/11/2026 Sold 1 AMGN 5/22/2026 $322.50 Call option @ $8.50 per share.
Note: Implied Volatility (IV) of the Call option was 20.2 when this position was transacted which, as preferred, is above the current VIX of 18.4.   
5/15/2026 Upcoming quarterly ex-dividend of $2.52 per share.

Two possible overall performance results (including commissions) for this Amgen Covered Call position are as follows:
Covered Call Net Investment: $32,040.67
= ($328.90 - $8.50) * 100 shares + $.67 commission

Net Profit Components:
(a) Option Income: +$849.33
= ($8.50 * 100 shares) - $.67 commission
(b) Dividend Income (If Amgen Call option exercised early on May 14th, 2026, the last business day prior to the May 15th ex-div date): +$0.00; or
(b) Dividend Income (If Amgen stock assigned at the May 22nd, 2026 options expiration): +$252.00
= ($2.52 dividend per share x 100 shares)

(c) Capital Appreciation (If Amgen Call option assigned early on May 15th, 2026): -$640.00

= ($322.50 strike price - $328.90 stock purchase price) * 100 shares; or

(c) Capital Appreciation (If shares assigned at $322.50 strike price at the 5/22/2026 options expiration): -$640.00
= ($322.50 - $328.90) * 100 shares

1. Total Net Profit [If option exercised early (business day prior to the May 15th ex-dividend date)]: +$209.33

= (+$849.33 option income + $0.00 dividend income - $640.00 capital appreciation); or

2. Total Net Profit (If Amgen's shares assigned at $322.50 at the May 22nd, 2026 expiration): +$459.33

= (+$849.33 option income + $252.00 dividend income - $640.00 capital appreciation)

1. Potential Absolute Return-on-Investment [If option exercised on business day prior to the 5/15/2026 ex-dividend date]: +0.7%

= +$209.33/$32,040.67

Potential Annualized Return (If option exercised early): +59.6%

= (+$209.33/$32,040.67) * (365/4 days); or

2. Potential Absolute Return-on-Investment (If Amgen's shares assigned on the May 22nd options expiration date): +1.4%

= +$459.33/$32,040.67

Potential Annualized Return (If Amgen's shares assigned at the $322.50 strike price on the 5/22/2026 options expiration date): +47.6%

= (+$459.33/$32,040.67) * (365/11 days)

Either outcome would provide a very attractive return-on-investment result for this Amgen investment.  These returns will be achieved as long as the stock is above the $322.50 strike price at assignment.  However, if the stock declines below the strike price, the breakeven price of $317.88 ($328.90 - $8.50 - $2.52) provides 3.4% downside protection below today's stock purchase price.

At least eight of the nine metrics used in the Covered Calls Advisor's Dividend Capture Strategy spreadsheet (see below) must be 'YES' prior to establishing a new Covered Call position using the Covered Calls Advisor's Dividend Capture strategy.  As shown below, eight criteria are achieved for this Amgen Inc. Covered Call position.

May 8th, 2026 Options Expiration Results

The Covered Calls Advisor Portfolio had three Covered Calls positions with May 8th, 2026 options expirations and all three positions (Barrick Mining Corporation, Citigroup Inc., and NVIDIA Corporation) closed with their stock prices in-the-money.  So, their Calls expired with no remaining time value and the Covered Calls were closed out by the stocks being sold at their respective strike prices on their May 8th options expiration date. The return-on-investment details (in alphabetical order) for each position is as follows:

1. Barrick Mining Corporation (B) -- +2.0% absolute return-on-investment (equivalent to +82.0% annualized return-on-investment) for the 9 days of this investment.  This Barrick Mining Covered Call position had a $37.00 strike price and it closed at $43.13 yesterday.  The original blog post showing the details of this position is here. 

2. Citigroup Inc. (C) -- +1.8% absolute return-on-investment (equivalent to +64.3% annualized return-on-investment) for the 10 days of this investment.  This Citigroup Covered Calls position had a $125.00 strike price and it closed at $125.56 yesterday.  The original blog post showing the details of this position is here. 

3. Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) -- +1.3% absolute return-on-investment (equivalent to +61.0% annualized return-on-investment) for the 8 days of this investment.  This NVIDIA Covered Calls position had a $195.00 strike price and it closed at $215.217 yesterday.  The original blog post showing the details of this position is here.

I look forward to receiving your emails with your questions/comments at the email address shown below on any topics related to the Covered Calls investing strategy. 

Jeff Partlow
The Covered Calls Advisor
partlow@cox.net

Covered Call Position Established in Insulet Corporation

Today a short-term Covered Call position in Insulet Corporation (PODD) was established when one hundred shares were purchased at $153.06 and one May 15th, 2026 Call option was sold at $10.30 per share at the $145.00 strike price.  The buy/write net debit limit order at $142.76 was executed, so the time value was $2.24 per share [$10.30 Call option premium - ($153.06 stock purchase price - $145.00 strike price)].  Insulet's first quarter earnings were reported after market close yesterday, so there is no earnings report prior to the May 15th options expiration date.  I consider today's very negative stock price decline of over 8% after a beat-and-raise quarter (that also included an increase to their 2026 guidance) to be an unjustified overreaction. But given my current cautious market outlook, an in-the-money Covered Calls position was established with a 73.4% probability of assignment on the options expiration date when this buy/write limit order was executed. 

Insulet Corporation makes, sells, and develops its proprietary Omnipod System, an automated insulin pump for insulin-dependent diabetics in the U.S. and Internationally.  Their business operates on a razor-and-blade model centered on its Omnipod system, pairing its low-cost controller (the razor hardware) with its disposable (replaced every 3 days) insulin pods (the consumable blades) that generate recurring, high-margin revenue and strong cash flow visibility. Financially, the company has delivered a decade of consistent high growth, with revenue expanding from under $1B in 2020 to ~$2.7B in 2025 (roughly a 25–30% annual growth rate in recent years), including its 10th consecutive year of 20%+ growth and accelerating ~30% growth in 2025. Profitability has scaled alongside revenue, with gross margins around ~70%+ and operating leverage improving as volumes increase, though near-term earnings can fluctuate due to reinvestment in sales and R&D. Looking forward, management continues to guide to ~20%+ revenue growth with even faster EPS expansion, driven by international expansion, penetration of the large Type 2 diabetes market, and deeper integration with leading automated insulin delivery ecosystems such as Dexcom's G7 and Abbott's FreeStyle Libre. Overall, Insulet offers investors a rare combination of durable recurring revenue, strong historical execution, and a long runway for growth in an underpenetrated global market.

Insulet is highly rated by analysts.  The average target price of the 25 analysts currently covering the company is +120.5% above today's stock purchase price.  In addtion, Morningstar has a 5-star strong buy rating and CFRA a 4-star buy rating.

As detailed below, a potential return-on-investment result is +1.6% absolute return-on-investment (equivalent to +63.4% annualized return-on-investment over the next 9 days) if the stock is assigned on the May 15th, 2026 options expiration date.

Insulet Corporation (PODD) -- New Covered Call Position
The simultaneous buy/write transaction today was as follows:
5/6/2026 Bought 100 Insulet Corp. shares @ $153.06
5/6/2026 Sold 1 PODD 5/15/2026 $145.00 Call option @ $10.30 per share
Note: the Implied Volatility of the Call was 54.0 when this transaction was executed.  As I prefer, this value exceeds that of the S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) which is currently at 17.2.

A possible overall performance result (including commission) for this Insulet Covered Call position if assigned on the options expiration date is as follows:
Covered Call Cost Basis: $14,276.67
= ($153.06 - $10.30) * 100 shares + $.67 commission

Net Profit Components:
(a) Option Income: +$1,029.33
= ($10.30 * 100 shares) - $.67 commission
(b) Dividend Income $0.00
(c) Capital Appreciation (If Insulet shares assigned at the $145.00 strike price on the options expiration date): -$806.00
+($145.00 strike price - $153.06 stock purchase price) * 100 shares

Total Net Profit (If Insulet shares assigned at the $145.00 strike price at the 5/15/2026 expiration date): +$223.33

= (+$1,029.33 option income + $0.00 - $806.00 capital appreciation)

Absolute Return-on-Investment (If PODD shares assigned at the $145.00 strike price on the May 15th, 2026 options expiration date): +1.6%

= +$223.33/$14,276.67

Annualized Return-on-Investment (If Insulet stock assigned at the $145.00 strike at the 5/15/2026 options expiration date): +63.4%

= (+$223.33/$14,276.67) * (365/9 days)

Established Covered Calls Position in Wells Fargo & Company

A Covered Calls position was established in Wells Fargo & Company (ticker symbol WFC) yesterday when my buy/write limit order was executed -- 300 shares were purchased at $80.07 and 3 May 15th, 2026 Call options were sold at $2.71 at the $78.00 strike price.  The corresponding extrinsic value (i.e. time value) was $.64 per share [$2.71 Call options premium - ($80.07 stock purchase price - $78.00 strike price)], all of which will be profit if the stock is assigned (either by early assignment on the day prior to the May 8th ex-dividend date or at the May 15th options expiration date). The Implied Volatility of the Call options was 25.7 and also, as preferred, the next earnings report on July 14th, 2026 is well after the May 15th options expiration date.

At today's purchase price, the upcoming ex-dividend of $.45 has a 2.2% annualized dividend yield.  So, this short-term (only 11 days until options expiration) position was established to take advantage of the potential to achieve a satisfactory annualized return-on-investment in a position that meets all nine criteria of the Covered Calls Advisor's Dividend Capture Strategy (see table at end of this post).      

Most companies in the Financial Sector (such as Wells Fargo) provide only modest growth prospects, but they often provide good annual dividend yields.  Consequently, the Covered Calls Advisor targets opportunities to use the Dividend Capture Strategy in all Financial Sector Covered Calls positions.  This new Wells Fargo Covered Calls position continues the Covered Calls Advisor's Dividend Capture Strategy of often selling in-the-money monthly Covered Calls for one of six mega-cap U.S. banks (Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo) for each options expiration month: (JPMorgan Chase quarterly for Jan, Apr, July, and Oct options expirations; Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and/or Wells Fargo for Feb, May, Aug, and Nov options expirations; and Bank of America and/or Goldman Sachs for Mar, Jun, Sep, and Dec options expirations).

The goal of these monthly Covered Calls in these banks is to both provide an opportunity to either: (1) potentially capture the quarterly dividend payment and if the stock price remains above the strike price at options expiration, in which case the maximum possible return-on-investment result on the options expiration date for the position would be achieved; or (2) have the stock assigned early on the day prior to the ex-dividend date in which case the Covered Calls Advisor is often very pleased since the Dividend Capture Strategy criteria are designed such that the annualized return-on-investment for early assignment normally exceeds the Covered Calls Advisor's minimum threshold (as is the case with this Wells Fargo position).  So far, applying this approach has provided attractive annualized return results -- better than would be achieved if Covered Calls positions for these bank stocks were held in the Covered Calls Advisor Portfolio during the other two non-dividend paying months each quarter.  

Two potential return-on-investment results for this position are highlighted below (including the possibility of early assignment since the ex-dividend is prior to the May 15 options expiration date).  Given the Covered Calls Advisor's current Neutral overall market sentiment, a moderately in-the-money Covered Calls position was established with a probability of 71.2% that the stock will be in-the-money, and therefore assigned (i.e. sold), on the May 15th, 2026 options expiration date.  

As detailed below, two potential return-on-investment results are: 

•  +0.8% absolute return (equivalent to +74.7% annualized return-on-investment for the next 4 days) in the event that the stock is assigned early (business day prior to its May 8th, 2026 ex-dividend date); OR 

• +1.4% absolute return (equivalent to +46.5% annualized return-on-investment over the next 11 days) if the stock is assigned on the May 15th options expiration date.

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) -- New Covered Calls Position
The buy/write transaction was:
5/4/2026 Bought 300 Wells Fargo shares @ $80.07
5/4/2026 Sold 3 Wells Fargo 2/13/2026 $84.00 Call options @ $3.82
5/8/2026 Upcoming quarterly ex-dividend of $.45 per share

Two possible overall performance results (including commissions) for this Wells Fargo Covered Calls position are as follows:
Covered Calls Net Investment: $23,210.01
= ($80.07 - $2.71) * 300 shares + $2.01 commission

Net Profit Components:
(a) Options Income: +$810.99
= ($2.71 * 300 shares) - $2.01 commission
(b) Dividend Income (If option exercised early on May 7th, the day prior to the May 8th ex-div date): +$0.00; or
(b) Dividend Income (If Wells Fargo stock assigned at the May 15th, 2026 options expiration; so the $.45 dividend is captured): +$135.00
= ($.45 dividend per share x 300 shares)

(c) Capital Appreciation (If Wells Fargo Call options assigned early on May 8th, 2026): -$621.00
+($78.00 strike price - $80.07 stock purchase price) * 300 shares; or
(c) Capital Appreciation (If shares assigned at $78.00 strike price at options expiration): -$621.00
+($78.00 - $80.07) * 300 shares

1. Total Net Profit [If option exercised on 5/7/2026 (business day prior to the 5/8/2026 ex-dividend date)]: +$189.99

= (+$810.99 options income + $0.00 dividend income - $621.00 capital appreciation); or

2. Total Net Profit (If Wells Fargo shares assigned at $78.00 at the 5/15/2026 expiration): +$324.99

= (+$810.99 options income + $135.00 dividend income - $621.00 capital appreciation)

1. Absolute Return-on-Investment [If option exercised early on 2/6/2026]: +0.8%

= +$189.99/$23,210.01

Annualized Return-on-Investment (If option exercised early): +74.7%

= (+$189.99/$23,210.01) * (365/4 days); or

2. Absolute Return-on-Investment (If Wells Fargo shares assigned at $78.00 at the 5/15/2026 options expiration): +1.4%

= +$324.99/$23,210.01

Annualized Return-on-Investment (If Wells Fargo shares assigned at $78.00 at the 5/15/2026 options expiration date): +46.5%

= (+$324.99/$23,210.01) * (365/11 days)

Either outcome provides a good return-on-investment result for this Wells Fargo investment.  These returns will be achieved as long as the stock is above the $78.00 strike price at assignment.  If the stock declines below the strike price, the breakeven price of $76.91 ($80.07 - $2.71 - $.45) provides a 3.9% downside protection below today's stock purchase price.

At least eight of the nine metrics used in the Covered Calls Advisor's Dividend Capture Strategy spreadsheet must be 'YES' prior to establishing a position.  As shown below with this Wells Fargo position, all nine criteria are met.