NXST Covered Call Strategy
NXST (Nexstar Media Group, Inc.), in the Communication Services sector, (Broadcasting industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is a diversified U.S. media corporation focused on broadcast television and digital content. The company specializes in the strategic acquisition, development, and management of local television stations, along with operating interactive community-focused websites and a variety of digital media services. It provides no-cost programming to television viewers across the nation. By the end of 2020, Nexstar directly owned, operated, programmed, or offered sales and other services to 198 television stations. Furthermore, it extended sales, programming, and other support through local service agreements to an additional 37 independent power television stations. The company also furnishes advanced video and display advertising solutions, which can be deployed both locally and nationally across its own digital platforms and various third-party websites and mobile applications.
NXST (Nexstar Media Group, Inc.) trades in the Communication Services sector, specifically Broadcasting, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.65B, a trailing P/E of 30.15, a beta of 0.89 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 154.47-254.3, average daily share volume of 397K, a public-listing history dating back to 2003, approximately 12K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how NXST stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.89 places NXST roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. NXST pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a covered call on NXST?
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.
NXST snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $189.67, ATM IV 38.20%, IV rank 39.51%, expected move 10.95%. The covered call on NXST below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.
Why this covered call structure on NXST specifically: NXST IV at 38.20% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a NXST covered call sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.95% (roughly $20.77 on the underlying). The 35-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated NXST expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on NXST should anchor to the underlying notional of $189.67 per share and to the trader's directional view on NXST stock.
NXST covered call setup
The NXST covered call below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With NXST at $189.67 on that close, the first option leg uses a $200.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed NXST chain at a 35-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 NXST shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $189.67 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $200.00 | $4.65 |
NXST covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$18,502.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $1,498.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$18,501.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $185.02
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.081
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.
NXST covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on NXST. 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% | -$18,501.00 |
| $41.95 | -77.9% | -$14,307.40 |
| $83.88 | -55.8% | -$10,113.80 |
| $125.82 | -33.7% | -$5,920.21 |
| $167.75 | -11.6% | -$1,726.61 |
| $209.69 | +10.6% | +$1,498.00 |
| $251.63 | +32.7% | +$1,498.00 |
| $293.56 | +54.8% | +$1,498.00 |
| $335.50 | +76.9% | +$1,498.00 |
| $377.43 | +99.0% | +$1,498.00 |
When traders use covered call on NXST
Covered calls on NXST are an income strategy run on existing NXST stock positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
NXST thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for NXST extends from approximately $168.90 on the downside to $210.44 on the upside. A NXST covered call collects premium on an existing long NXST position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether NXST will breach that level within the expiration window. Current NXST IV rank near 39.51% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the covered call thesis on NXST should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Communication Services name, NXST options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to NXST-specific events.
NXST 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. NXST positions also carry Communication Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move NXST alongside the broader basket even when NXST-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on NXST carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical NXST earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current NXST chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on NXST?
- A covered call on NXST is the covered call strategy applied to NXST (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 NXST stock at $189.67 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed NXST chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are NXST 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 NXST covered call priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 38.20%), the computed maximum profit is $1,498.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$18,501.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a NXST covered call?
- The breakeven for the NXST covered call priced on this page is roughly $185.02 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The NXST market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 10.95%; 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 NXST?
- Covered calls on NXST are an income strategy run on existing NXST 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 NXST implied volatility affect this covered call?
- NXST ATM IV is at 38.20% with IV rank near 39.51%, 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.