The wheel on AAPL
Running the wheel on AAPL at the August 3, 2026 snapshot meant securing $29,000 against the $290.00 put, collecting $308, and, if assigned at a $286.93 basis, writing the $325.00 call for another $232. That is $540 of premium across 50 days on $29,000 of capital.
Numbers on this page come from a snapshot taken on August 3, 2026. They are not live quotes and are not refreshed when you load the page.
| Cash secured | $29,000 | the $290.00 put, 25 days out |
|---|---|---|
| Put premium | $308 | yours the moment it fills |
| Cost basis if assigned | $286.93 | strike minus the premium per share |
| Call written above basis | $325.00 | 25 days out, $232 |
| Premium, both legs | $540 | over 50 days |
| Return on the capital | 1.86% | about 13.6% annualized |
| If the call is assigned too | 13.93% | premium plus $35.00 a share of gain |
Both legs are real rows from the August 3, 2026 snapshot: the put closest to 30 days out in the target delta band, and the nearest call above the cost basis that assignment would leave you with. Writing a call below that basis is the mistake that turns a wheel into a slow liquidation, so the exit leg here is picked to be above it.
Both sides of the bar
What the premium is priced off
At-the-money implied vol sits at 27%, which is ordinary for a name this size. Nothing in the pricing is unusual, so the trade lives or dies on strike selection rather than on the vol.
Dates that matter in this window
The earnings calendar was checked and came back clean for the 45-day window. Worth confirming yourself before you write anything: calendars move, and an unconfirmed date is not the same as no date. An ex-dividend date falls inside the window too. On the put side that cuts the other way: the drop on the ex-date is priced into the option already, and early assignment on a short put is driven by extrinsic value running out, not by the dividend.
Where this cycle goes wrong
The cycle above assumes two things that are true most of the time and catastrophic the rest of it. First, that assignment happens near the strike rather than far below it: if AAPL is at $213.60 on expiry day you still buy at $290.00, and the $308 you collected covers about 4% of the hole. Second, that a call above your basis is still worth writing after the drop. It usually is not. $325.00 calls on a stock that just fell to $213.60 pay close to nothing, and that is the moment the wheel stalls: you own shares, you are down, and the only strikes paying real premium are below your cost basis.
Sitting on the shares and writing nothing is a legitimate move. Wheeling below your cost basis for a small credit is how a good strategy becomes a slow, expensive one.
Questions people actually ask
How much capital does the wheel on AAPL need?
$29,000 per contract at the $290.00 strike, and that is the floor rather than a comfortable size. One contract is the whole position, so a single gap is your entire AAPL exposure. Most people running this seriously want several times the capital of one cycle so the position can be sized down rather than skipped.
Is AAPL a good wheel stock?
The honest filters are: would you own 100 shares of it, is the chain liquid enough to get out of, and does the premium pay you for the gap risk. On the August 3, 2026 snapshot the at-the-money implied vol was 27%. Those are inputs. The decision is yours, and this page is not making it.
What happens if AAPL keeps falling after assignment?
You own the shares at your cost basis and the market does not care what that number is. The wheel does not protect against a decline, it just gets you in a little cheaper than a buyer at the current price and pays you to wait. That is the entire edge, and it is small. See the wheel calculator to run the cycle with your own basis.
None of these is a pick. This is a dated snapshot of the AAPL chain from August 3, 2026, and an option chain from last week is history, not a quote.