CRAI Covered Call Strategy
CRAI (CRA International, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Consulting Services industry), listed on NASDAQ.
CRA International, Inc., along with its affiliated entities, delivers specialized advisory services across the domains of economics, finance, and management in the United States, the United Kingdom, and globally. The firm provides expert guidance to clients on economic and financial considerations arising from legal disputes and regulatory challenges. Additionally, it collaborates with corporations to address matters of business strategy and operational effectiveness. Its comprehensive consulting offerings encompass in-depth research and analysis, expert witness testimony, and robust support for corporate clients and legal practitioners navigating litigation and regulatory proceedings. These services cover critical areas such as finance, accounting, economics, insurance, and forensic accounting and investigations. Moreover, CRA International's management consulting capabilities are extensive, covering areas like strategy formulation, performance enhancement, corporate strategic planning, portfolio analysis, market demand forecasting, new product pricing strategies, valuation of intellectual property and other assets, competitive intelligence, and the evaluation of new supply chain opportunities.
CRAI (CRA International, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Consulting Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $944.5M, a trailing P/E of 19.86, a beta of 0.68 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 132.17-227.29, average daily share volume of 170K, a public-listing history dating back to 1998, approximately 947 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CRAI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.68 indicates CRAI has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. CRAI pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a covered call on CRAI?
A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income.
Current CRAI snapshot
As of June 30, 2026, spot at $142.58, ATM IV 44.50%, IV rank 4.84%, expected move 12.76%. The covered call on CRAI below is built from the same end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 52-day expiry.
Why this covered call structure on CRAI specifically: CRAI IV at 44.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling CRAI covered call collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 12.76% (roughly $18.19 on the underlying). The 52-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated CRAI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CRAI should anchor to the underlying notional of $142.58 per share and to the trader's directional view on CRAI stock.
CRAI covered call setup
The CRAI covered call below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With CRAI near $142.58, the first option leg uses a $150.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CRAI chain at a 52-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 CRAI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $142.58 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $150.00 | $6.50 |
CRAI covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$13,608.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $1,392.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$13,607.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $136.08
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.102
Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium.
CRAI covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on CRAI. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | -$13,607.00 |
| $31.53 | -77.9% | -$10,454.59 |
| $63.06 | -55.8% | -$7,302.18 |
| $94.58 | -33.7% | -$4,149.76 |
| $126.11 | -11.6% | -$997.35 |
| $157.63 | +10.6% | +$1,392.00 |
| $189.15 | +32.7% | +$1,392.00 |
| $220.68 | +54.8% | +$1,392.00 |
| $252.20 | +76.9% | +$1,392.00 |
| $283.73 | +99.0% | +$1,392.00 |
When traders use covered call on CRAI
Covered calls on CRAI are an income strategy run on existing CRAI stock positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
CRAI thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CRAI extends from approximately $124.39 on the downside to $160.77 on the upside. A CRAI covered call collects premium on an existing long CRAI position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether CRAI will breach that level within the expiration window. Current CRAI IV rank near 4.84% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on CRAI at 44.50%. As a Industrials name, CRAI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CRAI-specific events.
CRAI covered call positions are structurally neutral to slightly bullish; the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. CRAI positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CRAI alongside the broader basket even when CRAI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on CRAI carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical CRAI earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current CRAI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on CRAI?
- A covered call on CRAI is the covered call strategy applied to CRAI (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral to slightly bullish: A covered call pairs long stock with a short out-of-the-money call, collecting premium and capping upside above the short strike in exchange for income. With CRAI stock trading near $142.58, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CRAI chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CRAI covered call max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals short-strike minus cost basis plus premium times 100; max loss is cost basis minus premium (at zero). Breakeven is cost basis minus premium. For the CRAI covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 44.50%), the computed maximum profit is $1,392.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$13,607.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a CRAI covered call?
- The breakeven for the CRAI covered call priced on this page is roughly $136.08 at expiration, derived from end-of-day chain premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The current CRAI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 12.76%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a covered call on CRAI?
- Covered calls on CRAI are an income strategy run on existing CRAI stock positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
- How does current CRAI implied volatility affect this covered call?
- CRAI ATM IV is at 44.50% with IV rank near 4.84%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.