MAC Covered Call Strategy
MAC (The Macerich Company), in the Real Estate sector, (REIT - Retail industry), listed on NYSE.
Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust, which focuses on the acquisition, leasing, management, development and redevelopment of regional malls throughout the United States. Macerich currently owns 51 million square feet of real estate consisting primarily of interests in 47 regional shopping centers. Macerich specializes in successful retail properties in many of the country's most attractive, densely populated markets with significant presence in the West Coast, Arizona, Chicago and the Metro New York to Washington, DC corridor. A recognized leader in sustainability, Macerich has achieved the #1 GRESB ranking in the North American Retail Sector for five straight years (2015 - 2019).
MAC (The Macerich Company) trades in the Real Estate sector, specifically REIT - Retail, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.74B, a beta of 2.11 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 14.82-22.56, average daily share volume of 2.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 1994, approximately 615 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MAC stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 2.11 indicates MAC has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. MAC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a covered call on MAC?
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 MAC snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $21.58, ATM IV 34.40%, IV rank 21.01%, expected move 9.86%. The covered call on MAC 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 MAC specifically: MAC IV at 34.40% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which means a premium-selling MAC covered call collects less credit per unit of strike-width risk, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.86% (roughly $2.13 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 MAC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MAC should anchor to the underlying notional of $21.58 per share and to the trader's directional view on MAC stock.
MAC covered call setup
The MAC 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 MAC near $21.58, the first option leg uses a $23.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MAC 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 MAC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $21.58 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $23.00 | $0.38 |
MAC covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$2,120.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $179.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$2,119.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $21.21
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.085
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.
MAC covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on MAC. 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% | -$2,119.50 |
| $4.78 | -77.8% | -$1,642.46 |
| $9.55 | -55.7% | -$1,165.43 |
| $14.32 | -33.6% | -$688.39 |
| $19.09 | -11.5% | -$211.36 |
| $23.86 | +10.6% | +$179.50 |
| $28.63 | +32.7% | +$179.50 |
| $33.40 | +54.8% | +$179.50 |
| $38.17 | +76.9% | +$179.50 |
| $42.94 | +99.0% | +$179.50 |
When traders use covered call on MAC
Covered calls on MAC are an income strategy run on existing MAC stock positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
MAC thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MAC extends from approximately $19.45 on the downside to $23.71 on the upside. A MAC covered call collects premium on an existing long MAC position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether MAC will breach that level within the expiration window. Current MAC IV rank near 21.01% 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 MAC at 34.40%. As a Real Estate name, MAC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MAC-specific events.
MAC 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. MAC positions also carry Real Estate sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MAC alongside the broader basket even when MAC-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on MAC carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical MAC earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current MAC chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on MAC?
- A covered call on MAC is the covered call strategy applied to MAC (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 MAC stock trading near $21.58, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MAC chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MAC 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 MAC covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 34.40%), the computed maximum profit is $179.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$2,119.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a MAC covered call?
- The breakeven for the MAC covered call priced on this page is roughly $21.21 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 MAC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 9.86%; 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 MAC?
- Covered calls on MAC are an income strategy run on existing MAC 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 MAC implied volatility affect this covered call?
- MAC ATM IV is at 34.40% with IV rank near 21.01%, 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.