out of the money

Out of the money (OTM) is a term used in options trading to describe an option that has no intrinsic value. That means there’s no advantage to exercising it—it would cost you more (or earn you less) than simply trading in the open market.

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A call option gives its owner the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying asset (e.g., shares of stock) at a specific price (the “strike” or “exercise” price) by a specific date. A call is out of the money when the price of the underlying asset is below the strike price. If you exercised the call, you’d be buying the stock at a higher price than it’s trading for.

A put option gives its owner the right, but not the obligation, to sell the underlying asset. It’s out of the money when the price of the underlying is above the strike price. You’d be selling at a lower price than the market offers, which makes no sense.

Say a stock is trading at $95 a share:

In both cases, the options have zero intrinsic value. If the underlying stock is trading at $95 when these options expire, both the 90-strike put and the 100-strike call will be worthless. The buyer of each option will have lost the entire premium paid, and the seller of each option will have earned the premium. Both sides still incur transaction costs , even with zero-commission trading.

Out-of-the-money options may still have extrinsic value—driven by time, volatility, and the chance the option might move into the money before expiration. That’s why OTM options often still trade at a premium, especially when there’s time left or the underlying is volatile.

Low-cost directional plays. Traders sometimes buy OTM options as low-cost speculative plays. The idea: if the underlying moves sharply in your favor, the option could become profitable. But these are high-risk trades—most OTM options expire worthless. From a pricing standpoint, out-of-the-money options have low delta, which means their value doesn’t change much when the underlying moves. However, if the underlying begins to move toward the OTM strike price (up for a call option; down for a put option), its delta rises, and as it approaches the money, the rise in its delta (another risk metric called “gamma”) picks up steam. That’s the goal when buying an OTM option.

Covered call options (aka “buy-write”). A covered call involves taking a short position in an OTM call option on a stock you own. The goal is to earn income on the stock while you hold it, and if the stock rockets higher, you’ll take profit at a potentially good price. The risk, of course, is if you’re required to deliver shares of stock (via assignment) that you didn’t really wish to sell.

Selling cash-secured put options. The stock accumulation strategy is a way to use short OTM put options to let you “get paid” (by collecting option premium) to wait for an opportunity to buy a stock, ETF, or other asset you’re considering at a certain price below where it’s trading today. But it’s risky. If that OTM put were to move into the money, you’d be obligated to purchase the stock at the strike price, even if it falls all the way to zero.

Spread trades. From vertical spreads, which allow you to take a directional bias but define your profit and loss limits, to strangles and iron condors, which target movement but not direction, OTM options are a key component of option strategies.

Out-of-the-money options have no intrinsic value—and unless something changes, they won’t be worth anything at expiration. Still, out-of-the-money options are a significant part of the options ecosystem, often used for speculation or premium collection. They may look cheap, but the odds are steep. Knowing when an option is out of the money helps you set realistic expectations for risk, reward, and what expiration might bring.