How to Read an Options Chain

Reviewed by Leon Moyer - Published October 9, 2026 - Last reviewed October 9, 2026

An options chain is a table that lists every option available on a stock for one expiration date: calls on one side, puts on the other, and the strike prices running down the middle.

It is the screen you use to pick a contract, and it looks intimidating the first time because it packs hundreds of numbers into one view. The layout, though, follows the same few rules on almost every platform. Once you know them, you can find a contract and estimate its cost from the current quote. Your actual fill can differ as quotes and available size change.

How is an options chain laid out?

Every chain is organized along three directions:

1. Expirations across the top. You choose one expiration date at a time, usually from a row of tabs or a drop-down. Many platforms show the days left next to each date, such as "35d". The standard monthly equity expiration is usually the third Friday of the month (holidays can change the schedule), and many stocks and ETFs also list weekly expirations.
2. Strikes down the middle. Each row is one strike price, sorted from low to high. The strike column is the spine of the chain.
3. Calls on one side, puts on the other. Usually the call for a strike sits to its left and the put to its right, as in this lesson. Some platforms stack calls above puts or show one side at a time; the columns mean the same thing.

New setup for this module: a small, hypothetical chain for XYZ, with the stock at $50.40 and 35 days to expiration. The call columns come first, then the strike, then the put columns.

A real chain for a busy stock can list dozens of strikes and a dozen or more expirations. The rest of this module uses this one small table, with additional 14-day and 63-day examples introduced later. The XYZ quotes are invented for teaching, not live quotes: their marks come from a European-style pricing model (30% implied volatility, 4.5% rate), rounded to $0.05. Real American-style puts can be worth a few cents more. All examples use standard, unadjusted 100-share equity contracts and exclude fees. Adjusted contracts can have different deliverables; check their terms. See OIC options basics.

How do you find a specific contract on the chain?

A contract is identified by four things, the same four parts covered in What Is an Option?: the underlying, the expiration, the type and the strike. The chain is simply a grid of those choices, so you find a contract in the same order:

1. Choose the expiration tab.
2. Choose the side: calls or puts.
3. Go down to the strike row.

Where the row and the side meet is the contract's quote. Every price on the chain is per share, so the cost of one contract is the price times 100.

Which options are in the money on the chain?

Many platforms shade part of the chain, and the shading marks the in-the-money options: the ones with intrinsic value right now.

• A call is in the money when its strike is below the stock price. With XYZ at $50.40, the 48, 49 and 50 calls are in the money.
• A put is in the money when its strike is above the stock price. The 51, 52 and 53 puts are in the money.

So the shading sits in opposite corners: the upper left for calls and the lower right for puts. Many platforms also draw a line or a price marker between the 50 and 51 rows, where the stock price falls. Strictly, at the money means the strike equals the stock price. Platforms often call the nearest strike ATM; here the 50 call is slightly in the money. Call Options Explained and Put Options Explained define each term; In the Money vs Out of the Money covers moneyness in depth.

Notice what this does to prices. Moving down the call side, each strike gives the right to buy at a higher price, so the calls get cheaper: from $3.50 at the 48 strike to $1.00 at the 53. Moving down the put side, each strike gives the right to sell at a higher price, so the puts get more expensive. Stale quotes, wide spreads or adjusted contract terms can blur that pattern.

What do the columns on an options chain mean?

Platforms let you choose which columns to show. These are the ones you will meet most often:

• Bid and ask. The best price buyers are offering and the best price sellers will accept. The gap between them is the spread, covered in Bid, Ask and the Spread.
• Last and mark. The price of the most recent trade, and the midpoint between the bid and the ask.
• Change. How far the last price has moved since the previous close.
• Volume and open interest. Contracts traded today, and contracts still open. Volume and Open Interest explains how to use both to judge liquidity.
• Implied volatility and the Greeks. Many chains show implied volatility and delta beside each strike. The Option Greeks Explained covers the Greeks, and What Is Implied Volatility? covers implied volatility.

You do not need every column to start. Check the bid, the ask and the quoted size; none of these numbers guarantees the price of a future exit.