SSTK Covered Call Strategy
SSTK (Shutterstock, Inc.), in the Communication Services sector, (Internet Content & Information industry), listed on NYSE.
Shutterstock, Inc., a technology company, provides quality content, and creative workflow solutions in North America, Europe, and internationally. It offers image services consisting of photographs, vectors, and illustrations, which is used in visual communications, such as websites, digital and print marketing materials, corporate communications, books, publications, and others; footage services, including video clips, filmed by industry experts and cinema grade video effects, and HD and 4K formats that are integrated into Websites, social media, marketing campaigns, and cinematic productions; and music services comprising music tracks and sound effects, which are used to complement images and footage. The company provides its services under the Shutterstock, Bigstock, Offset, TurboSquid,PremiumBeat brand names, as well as Application programming interface to enhance workflow and project management needs, and search capabilities. It serves corporate professionals and organizations, media and broadcast companies, and small and medium-sized businesses, and individual creators. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
SSTK (Shutterstock, Inc.) trades in the Communication Services sector, specifically Internet Content & Information, with a market capitalization of approximately $594.4M, a beta of 1.11 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 14.36-29.5, average daily share volume of 318K, a public-listing history dating back to 2012, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how SSTK stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.11 places SSTK roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. SSTK pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a covered call on SSTK?
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 SSTK snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $16.63, ATM IV 87.90%, IV rank 37.21%, expected move 25.20%. The covered call on SSTK 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 SSTK specifically: SSTK IV at 87.90% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so the credit collected on a SSTK covered call sits in line with its long-run distribution, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 25.20% (roughly $4.19 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 SSTK expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on SSTK should anchor to the underlying notional of $16.63 per share and to the trader's directional view on SSTK stock.
SSTK covered call setup
The SSTK 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 SSTK near $16.63, the first option leg uses a $17.46 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed SSTK 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 SSTK shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 100 shares | Stock | $16.63 | long |
| Sell 1 | Call | $17.46 | N/A |
SSTK covered call risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
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.
SSTK covered call payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the covered call on SSTK. 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.
When traders use covered call on SSTK
Covered calls on SSTK are an income strategy run on existing SSTK stock positions; traders typically sell calls at 25-35 delta with 30-45 days to expiration to balance premium against upside cap.
SSTK thesis for this covered call
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for SSTK extends from approximately $12.44 on the downside to $20.82 on the upside. A SSTK covered call collects premium on an existing long SSTK position, trading off upside above the short call strike for immediate income; the short strike selection should reflect the trader's view on whether SSTK will breach that level within the expiration window. Current SSTK IV rank near 37.21% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the covered call thesis on SSTK should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Communication Services name, SSTK options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to SSTK-specific events.
SSTK 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. SSTK positions also carry Communication Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move SSTK alongside the broader basket even when SSTK-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Short-premium structures like a covered call on SSTK carry tail risk when realized volatility exceeds the implied move; review historical SSTK earnings reactions and macro stress periods before sizing. Always rebuild the position from current SSTK chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a covered call on SSTK?
- A covered call on SSTK is the covered call strategy applied to SSTK (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 SSTK stock trading near $16.63, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed SSTK chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are SSTK 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 SSTK covered call priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 87.90%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a SSTK covered call?
- The breakeven for the SSTK covered call priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 SSTK market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 25.20%; 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 SSTK?
- Covered calls on SSTK are an income strategy run on existing SSTK 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 SSTK implied volatility affect this covered call?
- SSTK ATM IV is at 87.90% with IV rank near 37.21%, 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.