FDS Covered Call Strategy
FDS (FactSet Research Systems Inc.), in the Financial Services sector, (Financial - Data & Stock Exchanges industry), listed on NYSE.
FactSet Research Systems Inc., a financial data and analytics company, provides integrated financial information and analytical applications to the investment community in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company delivers insight and information through the workflow solutions of research, analytics and trading, content and technology solutions, and wealth. It serves portfolio managers, investment banks, asset managers, wealth advisors, corporate clients, and other financial services entities. FactSet Research Systems Inc. was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.
FDS (FactSet Research Systems Inc.) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Financial - Data & Stock Exchanges, with a market capitalization of approximately $7.35B, a trailing P/E of 12.68, a beta of 0.69 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 185-474.79, average daily share volume of 984K, a public-listing history dating back to 1996, approximately 13K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how FDS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.69 indicates FDS has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. FDS pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a covered call on FDS?
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 FDS snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $212.44, ATM IV 47.20%, IV rank 57.04%, expected move 13.53%. The covered call on FDS 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 34-day expiry.
Why this covered call structure on FDS specifically: FDS IV at 47.20% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a FDS covered call sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 13.53% (roughly $28.75 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated FDS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on FDS should anchor to the underlying notional of $212.44 per share and to the trader's directional view on FDS stock.
FDS covered call setup
The FDS 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 FDS near $212.44, the first option leg uses a $220.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed FDS chain at a 34-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 FDS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $212.44 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $220.00 | $8.10 |
FDS covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$20,434.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $1,566.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$20,433.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $204.34
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.077
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.
FDS covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on FDS. 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% | -$20,433.00 |
| $46.98 | -77.9% | -$15,735.94 |
| $93.95 | -55.8% | -$11,038.89 |
| $140.92 | -33.7% | -$6,341.83 |
| $187.89 | -11.6% | -$1,644.78 |
| $234.86 | +10.6% | +$1,566.00 |
| $281.83 | +32.7% | +$1,566.00 |
| $328.80 | +54.8% | +$1,566.00 |
| $375.77 | +76.9% | +$1,566.00 |
| $422.74 | +99.0% | +$1,566.00 |
When traders use covered call on FDS
Covered calls on FDS are an income strategy run on existing FDS stock positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
FDS thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for FDS extends from approximately $183.69 on the downside to $241.19 on the upside. A FDS covered call collects premium on an existing long FDS position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether FDS will breach that level within the expiration window. Current FDS IV rank near 57.04% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the covered call thesis on FDS should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, FDS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to FDS-specific events.
FDS 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. FDS positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move FDS alongside the broader basket even when FDS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on FDS carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical FDS earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current FDS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on FDS?
- A covered call on FDS is the covered call strategy applied to FDS (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 FDS stock trading near $212.44, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed FDS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are FDS 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 FDS covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 47.20%), the computed maximum profit is $1,566.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$20,433.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a FDS covered call?
- The breakeven for the FDS covered call priced on this page is roughly $204.34 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 FDS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 13.53%; 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 FDS?
- Covered calls on FDS are an income strategy run on existing FDS 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 FDS implied volatility affect this covered call?
- FDS ATM IV is at 47.20% with IV rank near 57.04%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.