ISRG wheel: cash-secured put & covered-call yields
Intuitive Surgical Inc. · Healthcare · $414.79 close on Sep 28, 2026
What the Sep 28, 2026 close says about ISRG
At 40.5% implied volatility, the options market is pricing a one-standard-deviation move of about $49.70 (12.0%) in ISRG by Oct 30, 2026, 32 days out.
Selling the $395 put (−0.31Δ) for $11.67 means assignment would leave a cost basis of $383.33, 7.6% below the $414.79 close.
The 81-day 0.30Δ put pays 1.4× the premium of the 32-day one for 2.5× the time — more premium per day on the 32-day contract ($0.365 vs $0.207).
At 0.30Δ on the Oct 30 expiry the put yields 2.95% on its strike and the call 2.43% on spot: puts pay 1.2× what calls do on ISRG this session.
Moving down to the $380 put (−0.21Δ) buys 3.6% more room below spot and keeps 65% of the 0.30Δ premium.
Open interest in the stored window totals 8,649 contracts; the largest single line is the $350 put expiring Dec 18 with 1,271 (14.7% of the window).
By options volume ISRG ranks #230 of 441 names in our universe.
The builder re-quotes every leg from the live chain when it opens; tracking is free to start.
Cash-secured puts on ISRG
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $395 | −0.31 | $11.67 Sep 28 | $1,167.00 | $39,500 | 2.95% | 33.7% | $383.33 | 11 | 7 |
| 0.20Δ | $380 | −0.21 | $7.57 Sep 28 | $757.00 | $38,000 | 1.99% | 22.7% | $372.43 | 21 | 1 |
Snapshot #154 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 32
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Cash secured | Period yield | Annualized | Breakeven | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $390 | −0.32 | $16.75 Sep 28 | $1,675.00 | $39,000 | 4.29% | 19.4% | $373.25 | 126 | 8 |
| 0.20Δ | $360 | −0.19 | $8.90 Sep 28 | $890.00 | $36,000 | 2.47% | 11.1% | $351.10 | 330 | 1 |
Snapshot #154 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ strike · annualized = yield × 365 ÷ 81
Covered calls on ISRG
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $445 | 0.33 | $10.08 Sep 28 | $1,008.00 | 2.43% | 27.7% | 9.71% | 110.8% | 8 | 13 |
| 0.20Δ | Unavailable1 | |||||||||
Snapshot #154 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 32
| Target | Strike | Δ | Last trade | Premium / contract | Yield on spot | Annualized | If called | If called, ann. | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.30Δ | $470 | 0.29 | $12.50 Sep 28 | $1,250.00 | 3.01% | 13.6% | 16.32% | 73.6% | 239 | 21 |
| 0.20Δ | $500 | 0.18 | $6.00 Sep 28 | $600.00 | 1.45% | 6.5% | 21.99% | 99.1% | 548 | 3 |
Snapshot #154 · session 2026-09-28 · captured 22:31 UTC · 15-min delayed · yield = premium ÷ spot · if called = (premium + strike − spot) ÷ spot · annualized × 365 ÷ 81
ISRG volatility, dividends and liquidity
- Implied volatility (ATM, ≈30 days)
- 40.5%session 2026-09-28
- IV rank / IV percentile
- Unavailable2
- Next earnings
- Unavailable3
- Next ex-dividend
- None announcedchecked Sep 28, 2026
- Open interest, stored window
- 8,649 contractssession 2026-09-28
- Largest open-interest line
- $350 put · Dec 18 · 1,271
- Bid/ask spread
- Unavailable4
- Options liquidity rank
- #230 of 441 optionable names by options volume
How these numbers are made
One end-of-day snapshot per session from a 15-minute-delayed feed. A premium is a contract’s last trade, used only if it printed that session, sits above intrinsic value and is in order with its neighbours; deltas are the feed’s own. Expiries are the first at least 30 and 60 days out, and nothing under 30 days is annualized. Not investment advice. Full methodology.
- No contract near 0.20Δ traded this session
- We are building our own daily implied-volatility history (1 of 252 sessions so far); IV rank and percentile need a full year of it.
- Our data provider does not license announced earnings dates, and we do not publish estimates.
- Our data feed carries last trades, not live bid/ask quotes, so we cannot show a spread.