ISRG Covered Call Strategy
ISRG (Intuitive Surgical, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Instruments & Supplies industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets products that enable physicians and healthcare providers to enhance the quality of and access to minimally invasive care in the United States and internationally. The company offers the da Vinci Surgical System to enable complex surgery using a minimally invasive approach; and Ion endoluminal system, which extends its commercial offerings beyond surgery into diagnostic procedures enabling minimally invasive biopsies in the lung. It also provides a suite of stapling, energy, and core instrumentation for its surgical systems; progressive learning pathways to support the use of its technology; a complement of services to its customers, including support, installation, repair, and maintenance; and integrated digital capabilities providing unified and connected offerings, streamlining performance for hospitals with program-enhancing insights. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
ISRG (Intuitive Surgical, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Instruments & Supplies, with a market capitalization of approximately $153.09B, a trailing P/E of 51.50, a beta of 1.51 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 417.74-603.88, average daily share volume of 1.9M, a public-listing history dating back to 2000, approximately 16K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how ISRG stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.51 indicates ISRG has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. The trailing P/E of 51.50 is on the rich side, which tends to correlate with higher earnings-window IV expansion as the market debates whether forward growth supports the multiple.
What is a covered call on ISRG?
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 ISRG snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $421.16, ATM IV 32.05%, IV rank 34.20%, expected move 9.19%. The covered call on ISRG 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 28-day expiry.
Why this covered call structure on ISRG specifically: ISRG IV at 32.05% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a ISRG covered call sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.19% (roughly $38.70 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated ISRG expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ISRG should anchor to the underlying notional of $421.16 per share and to the trader's directional view on ISRG stock.
ISRG covered call setup
The ISRG 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 ISRG near $421.16, the first option leg uses a $440.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed ISRG chain at a 28-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 ISRG shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $421.16 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $440.00 | $7.70 |
ISRG covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$41,346.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $2,654.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$41,345.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $413.46
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.064
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.
ISRG covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on ISRG. 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% | -$41,345.00 |
| $93.13 | -77.9% | -$32,033.03 |
| $186.25 | -55.8% | -$22,721.06 |
| $279.37 | -33.7% | -$13,409.09 |
| $372.49 | -11.6% | -$4,097.12 |
| $465.61 | +10.6% | +$2,654.00 |
| $558.73 | +32.7% | +$2,654.00 |
| $651.85 | +54.8% | +$2,654.00 |
| $744.97 | +76.9% | +$2,654.00 |
| $838.09 | +99.0% | +$2,654.00 |
When traders use covered call on ISRG
Covered calls on ISRG are an income strategy run on existing ISRG stock positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
ISRG thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ISRG extends from approximately $382.46 on the downside to $459.86 on the upside. A ISRG covered call collects premium on an existing long ISRG position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether ISRG will breach that level within the expiration window. Current ISRG IV rank near 34.20% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the covered call thesis on ISRG should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, ISRG options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ISRG-specific events.
ISRG 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. ISRG positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move ISRG alongside the broader basket even when ISRG-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on ISRG carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical ISRG earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current ISRG chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on ISRG?
- A covered call on ISRG is the covered call strategy applied to ISRG (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 ISRG stock trading near $421.16, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ISRG chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are ISRG 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 ISRG covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 32.05%), the computed maximum profit is $2,654.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$41,345.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a ISRG covered call?
- The breakeven for the ISRG covered call priced on this page is roughly $413.46 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 ISRG market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 9.19%; 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 ISRG?
- Covered calls on ISRG are an income strategy run on existing ISRG 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 ISRG implied volatility affect this covered call?
- ISRG ATM IV is at 32.05% with IV rank near 34.20%, 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.