Bull Call Spread
A bull call spread is a defined-risk bullish strategy that buys a call at one strike and sells another call at a higher strike with the same expiration.
Key Facts
- Market Outlook
- Moderately bullish.
- Construction
- Buy a call and sell a higher-strike call with the same expiration. Opened for a net debit.
- Max Profit
- Higher strike − lower strike − net debit, if the underlying finishes at or above the higher strike.
- Max Loss
- The net debit, if the underlying finishes at or below the lower strike.
- Breakeven(s)
- One: lower strike + net debit.
- At Expiration
- Between the two strikes, profit or loss changes one-for-one with the underlying price. At or above the higher strike, the spread is worth the full difference between the strikes.
Per share, at expiration (at the near-term expiration for calendar and diagonal spreads). Assumes the position is held until then and ignores commissions, taxes, dividends and early assignment.
Defined-Risk Bullish View
Bull call spread — buy a lower-strike call, sell a higher-strike call, same expiration.
Illustrative example — not live market data.
Manual Market — Go Beyond a Single Expiration
Manual Market lets you set expiration dates independently for each leg and model positions with your own inputs — without depending on OptionLab's built-in US or Israel market data. Explore more advanced positions shaped by both price and time.
Related Strategies
How It Works
A bull call spread buys a call at a lower strike and sells a call at a higher strike, both with the same expiration. The premium received from the short call partly offsets the cost of the long call.
Because both legs are set at the same time, the maximum loss and maximum profit are both limited from the start — designed for a moderately bullish view rather than an unlimited move. The position has one breakeven point, above the lower strike, where it starts to turn profitable.
Worked Example
This example uses its own inputs and is separate from the illustrative chart above.
- Underlying price: $100
- Time to expiration when premiums were calculated: 30 days
- Implied volatility: 25%
- Risk-free rate: 5%
- Premiums: theoretical values from OptionLab's Black-Scholes function — the same model as OptionLab's Black-Scholes Calculator. They are not live market quotes.
- Results: calculated at expiration by OptionLab's exact payoff engine.
- Amounts: per share. Contract-level amounts depend on the contract multiplier — for example, multiply by 100 for standard US equity options.
| Leg | Option | Strike | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $95 | $6.27 |
| Sell 1 | Call | $105 | $1.19 |
| Net Debit | Max Profit | Max Loss | Breakeven |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5.08 | $4.92 | $5.08 | $100.08 |
At expiration: At or above $105, the spread is worth its full $10 width, for a profit of $10.00 − $5.08 = $4.92. At or below $95, both calls expire worthless and the $5.08 debit is lost.
Build a Bull Call Spread in OptionLab
Bull Call Spread is one of OptionLab's built-in strategy templates. OptionLab builds the two-leg structure for you, and you can adjust the strikes to match your view. From there, you can see the payoff graph, breakeven point, and maximum profit and maximum loss.
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