Free Calculator
Bull Call Spread Calculator
Enter your strikes, premiums, and contracts to get max profit, max loss, breakeven, and return on risk — with a payoff chart you can read at a glance.
Buy to open (long call, lower strike)
Sell to open (short call, higher strike)
Net Debit
-$400
Max Profit
$600
If price finishes at or above the short strike
Max Loss
-$400
If price finishes at or below the long strike
Breakeven
$99.00
Decision metrics — from $100.00
- Return on Risk
- 150.0%
- Risk : Reward
- 0.67:1
- Premium / Width
- -40.0%
- Distance to Breakeven
- +1.0% (above $99.00)
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What is a bull call spread?
A bull call spread (also called a long call spread or call debit spread) is a defined-risk, defined-reward options strategy that profits when a stock rises. You buy a call at a lower strike and sell a call at a higher strike, both expiring on the same date. Buying the lower-strike call costs more premium than you receive from selling the higher-strike call, so you pay a net debit when you open the trade.
Your maximum profit is capped at the spread width minus the debit paid, reached when the stock finishes at or above the short call's strike. Your maximum loss is limited to the debit paid — which is what makes this a defined-risk alternative to buying a single call outright.
How the calculator works
Enter the current stock price, the strike and premium for the call you're buying (the long call), the strike and premium for the call you're selling (the short call), and the number of contracts. The calculator computes the position's payoff at expiration across a range of stock prices and reads off the max profit, max loss, and breakeven directly from that payoff curve — the same math a broker's risk graph uses.
Bull call spread formulas
- Net debit = (long call premium − short call premium) × 100 × contracts
- Max profit = (strike width − net debit per share) × 100 × contracts
- Max loss = net debit
- Breakeven = long call strike + net debit per share
Worked example
Stock trading at $100. Buy the $95 call for $6.50, sell the $105 call for $2.50, one contract:
- Net debit: ($6.50 − $2.50) × 100 = $400
- Max profit: ($10 width − $4.00 debit) × 100 = $600, if the stock closes at or above $105
- Max loss: $400, if the stock closes at or below $95
- Breakeven: $95 + $4.00 = $99
- Return on risk: $600 / $400 = 150%
These are the exact defaults loaded in the calculator above — change any field to model your own trade.
Common mistakes
- Paying too much debit relative to the spread width — if the debit is more than half the width, you're risking more than you can make, and the stock has to move significantly just to break even.
- Misjudging time decay (theta) — unlike a credit spread where time decay works in your favor, a bull call spread loses value as expiration approaches if the stock hasn't moved, because your long call decays faster than the short call.
- Not accounting for the short call capping your upside — even if the stock rockets past your short strike, your profit is limited to the spread width minus the debit. If you expect a large move, a spread may not be the right structure.
- Forgetting the trade needs the stock to actually move up — unlike a bull put spread (credit spread) that profits as long as the stock doesn't fall, a bull call spread requires the stock to rise above breakeven to be profitable at expiration.
FAQ
Bull call spread questions, answered.
What is a bull call spread?
A bull call spread is a debit spread you use when you expect a stock to rise. You buy a call at a lower strike and sell a call at a higher strike, both with the same expiration. You pay a net debit up front, and your profit grows as the stock rises toward the short call's strike.
How do you calculate max profit on a bull call spread?
Max profit equals the width between the two strikes minus the net debit paid, multiplied by 100 and by the number of contracts. You reach max profit when the stock closes at or above the short call's strike at expiration.
How do you calculate max loss on a bull call spread?
Max loss equals the net debit paid when you opened the trade, multiplied by 100 and by the number of contracts. This is the most you can lose if the stock finishes at or below the long call's strike at expiration.
What is the breakeven price for a bull call spread?
Breakeven equals the long call's strike plus the net debit paid per share. Above that price, you start to profit. Below it, your losses grow until they're capped at the debit paid when the stock is at or below the long call's strike.
Is a bull call spread bullish or bearish?
Bullish. You need the stock to rise for the trade to profit — specifically, it must move above the breakeven price (long strike plus net debit per share) before expiration. Unlike a credit spread that profits from inaction, this trade requires upward movement.
Does this calculator use real-time option prices?
No — this is a manual-input calculator. Enter the strikes and premiums from your own broker's option chain to model the trade before or after you place it.
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