IDA Covered Call Strategy
IDA (IDACORP, Inc.), in the Utilities sector, (Regulated Electric industry), listed on NYSE.
IDACORP, Inc. operates as a U.S.-based enterprise deeply involved in the comprehensive electric power sector, handling everything from generation, transmission, and distribution to the purchase and retail sale of electricity. The company maintains a diverse portfolio of generation assets, including 17 hydroelectric power stations situated across southern Idaho and eastern Oregon, three natural gas-fired facilities within southern Idaho, and equity interests in two coal-fired steam-electric plants located in Wyoming and Nevada. As of December 31, 2021, its extensive infrastructure encompassed approximately 4,843 pole-miles of high-voltage transmission lines. This network was further supported by 23 step-up transmission substations positioned at its power plants, 21 dedicated transmission substations, 10 switching stations, 30 multi-purpose transmission and distribution substations, and 187 energized distribution substations, alongside 28,570 pole-miles of distribution lines. IDACORP supplies electric utility services to roughly 604,000 retail customers throughout southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Its commercial and industrial clientele represents various industries, including food processing, electronics manufacturing, general manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, governmental bodies, and educational institutions.
IDA (IDACORP, Inc.) trades in the Utilities sector, specifically Regulated Electric, with a market capitalization of approximately $8.47B, a trailing P/E of 25.35, a beta of 0.49 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 113.82-152.88, average daily share volume of 537K, a public-listing history dating back to 1944, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how IDA stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.49 indicates IDA has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. IDA pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a covered call on IDA?
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 IDA snapshot
As of June 30, 2026, spot at $151.56, ATM IV 46.40%, IV rank 8.54%, expected move 13.30%. The covered call on IDA 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 IDA specifically: IDA IV at 46.40% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling IDA covered call collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 13.30% (roughly $20.16 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 IDA expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on IDA should anchor to the underlying notional of $151.56 per share and to the trader's directional view on IDA stock.
IDA covered call setup
The IDA 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 IDA near $151.56, the first option leg uses a $160.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed IDA 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 IDA shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $151.56 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $160.00 | $1.38 |
IDA covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$15,018.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $982.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$15,017.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $150.18
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.065
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.
IDA covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on IDA. 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% | -$15,017.00 |
| $33.52 | -77.9% | -$11,666.04 |
| $67.03 | -55.8% | -$8,315.07 |
| $100.54 | -33.7% | -$4,964.11 |
| $134.05 | -11.6% | -$1,613.14 |
| $167.56 | +10.6% | +$982.00 |
| $201.07 | +32.7% | +$982.00 |
| $234.58 | +54.8% | +$982.00 |
| $268.09 | +76.9% | +$982.00 |
| $301.60 | +99.0% | +$982.00 |
When traders use covered call on IDA
Covered calls on IDA are an income strategy run on existing IDA stock positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
IDA thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for IDA extends from approximately $131.40 on the downside to $171.72 on the upside. A IDA covered call collects premium on an existing long IDA position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether IDA will breach that level within the expiration window. Current IDA IV rank near 8.54% 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 IDA at 46.40%. As a Utilities name, IDA options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to IDA-specific events.
IDA 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. IDA positions also carry Utilities sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move IDA alongside the broader basket even when IDA-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on IDA carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical IDA earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current IDA chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on IDA?
- A covered call on IDA is the covered call strategy applied to IDA (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 IDA stock trading near $151.56, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed IDA chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are IDA 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 IDA covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 46.40%), the computed maximum profit is $982.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$15,017.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a IDA covered call?
- The breakeven for the IDA covered call priced on this page is roughly $150.18 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 IDA market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 13.30%; 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 IDA?
- Covered calls on IDA are an income strategy run on existing IDA 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 IDA implied volatility affect this covered call?
- IDA ATM IV is at 46.40% with IV rank near 8.54%, 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.