Hello again everyone! I heard a quote one time that I think fits how I’m initially feeling about this new year. It goes something like this, “You believe in God, does He believe in you?”. The message being, are we living our lives in such a way that He would be pleased?
In truth, its an impossible task because we just get it so wrong sometimes. How could He ever be pleased with me knowing all I’ve done? The truth is He shouldn’t but I do have some great news. From the Bible we know our God is merciful and will forgive. Which I think changes the message to something closer to this; are we asking for Him to forgive us, correct us, and guide our next steps?
I hope this year we’ll all ask for the forgiveness we don’t deserve, the correction we don’t want, and for the guidance we don’t yet know we need.
Alright, with that it’s time once again to uncover the best covered call stocks under $10 for January 2025. For those interested in a list of stocks with weekly options; List of Stocks Under $20 with Weekly Options for December 2024. Additionally, for those completely new to the covered call strategy; Covered Call Options Strategy Explained. Lastly, if you’re just looking for a way to track your covered calls; FREE Covered Call Spreadsheet Tracker.
Finally, here are the best covered call stocks under $10 for January 2025! Just remember, many of these stocks are under $10 for a reason and I’m not suggesting you trade them.
List Selection Criteria
- Last price below $10
- Open Interest above 5,000
- Positive free cash flow per share
- Positive net margin
- Above average volume
- Positive analyst recommendation
Best Covered Call Stocks Under $10 for January 2025

Ford Motor Company (F)
Today’s Current Price – $9.65
Checking in to our list first is Ford Motor Company. Honestly, Ford’s share price hasn’t looked great since peaking back at the very beginning of 2022. Thus, covered call writers will be pleased to receive an income while they wait on the share price to rebound. Income that will only help to continually lower the shares cost basis.
Ford has ample liquidity on virtually every expiration so entering or exiting a trade will be seamless. They have an earnings date coming up early next month so premiums are higher than normal tonight. Currently the ATM call at 40 DTE is offering a very attractive 3.8% but I expect that will fall back under 2% after the earnings announcement.
Lastly, Ford currently offers a very attractive 6.22% dividend yield. Add that to a consistent covered call income stream and it wouldn’t be shocking to return over 20% in income on a stock under $10 per share.
Vale S.A. ADR (VALE)
Today’s Current Price – $8.50
Next is VALE ADR but don’t let the ADR deter consideration. This acronym stands for American Depository Receipt which is a fancy way to say this company isn’t in the U.S. but through the ADR symbol is allowed to trade here.
Personally, I don’t prefer Vale over some of the other options on this list but they’re here for good reason. They’ve been around for a long time and have weathered some significant storms along the way. That alone makes them worth considering. I suspect timing and good analysis on this one would make all the difference.
Currently, at 40 DTE the ATM call offers traders 2.5% but they also have an earnings announcement late next month. Still, for those holding shares and wanting to add to their income stream a covered call could make sense.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF)
Today’s Current Price – $9.90
Coming in just under our $10 target is this well established company dating back to the mid 1800’s. Cleveland-Cliffs has long been a target on my watchlists because they generally trade at a lower share price and they offer unmatched liquidity in this price range. Honestly, the open interest here rivals that of Ford and I know most of us don’t even know what Cleveland-Cliffs does. They’re in the steel industry, for those that are curious.
CLF doesn’t offer dividends but more than makes up for that with a nosebleed level of income on covered calls. At 40 DTE an ATM call offers 8.7%! Want room for capital appreciation? How about a 20% growth target? Move to the $12 dollar strike which is about 20% higher and the premium is still attractive at 3% or about 27% in income each year.
Shoals Technologies (SHLS)
Today’s Current Price – $5.89
Confident in electric vehicles? Then Shoals may be worth a look. They haven’t faired well since their IPO but it does seem like they’re price chart has found a footing. That said, the electric vehicle space hasn’t faired all that well outside of Tesla, in my opinion so do be cautious. I wouldn’t be anticipating turning any options income into an annualized return target, at least not for now.
Still, for those seeking an above average income then Shoals checks the box. Currently, ATM on the 40 DTE expiration has an incredible 9.3% in premium.
Chegg Inc. (CHGG)
Today’s Current Price – $1.79
Chegg is the next company on our best covered call stocks under $10 for January 2025 list but not because I would suggest holding it long term. No, I thought it would fit nicely on this list given it’s crazy low share price. At $1.79 it would be the cheapest possible way to get started learning about covered call writing.
However, at that low of a share price, a reverse split or even delisting is likely imminent. If you decided to trade this one for any duration then you’ll almost certainly be met one morning with a 10 for 1 reverse split. Meaning for every 100 shares you owned you’ll now only own 10. Even worse, if they we’re delisted you’d have to find a way to sell the shares in the OTC market which may not be easy depending on your brokerage. Not really risks I would want but at $1.79 I just couldn’t pass up including it.
For those that are brave or reckless enough, the 40 DTE ATM call is currently at $0.20 or $20 per call. That’s, $20 / $179 = 11.1% in premium available. Still, holding this one for 40 days doesn’t make me feel very safe. Who knows though, maybe they turn up from here!
Silvercrest Metals (SILV)
Today’s Current Price – $9.93
I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that traders in this market think they’re playing the SLV ETF. SLV is vastly more popular and easily the safer alternative. However, SILV has been around for awhile and seems to be doing quite well. Coming in at just under our $10 target their fundamentals look pretty solid. If the precious metals markets continue performing as they have then this is certainly one to keep an eye on.
SILV has ample liquidity at just about every expiration and even more liquidity more than a year out. That would provide me at least some comfort trading a name I wasn’t overly familiar with. At 40 DTE the ATM call offers approximately 6.5% in premium. Annualized that’s about 58%.
Rigetti Computing (RGTI)
Today’s Current Price – $8.93
To round out this list of the best covered call stocks under $10 for January 2025 I went a little off script. I eliminated all the criteria expect the price remaining under $10 and I amped up the open interest to 20,000. This allowed me to see where the gamblers are really playing.
If you subscribe to that camp, and I know I have, then Rigetti Computing may be worth the look. This quantum computing stock and several others have all been mentioned tirelessly across the internet in recent weeks. Personally, I’m staying a mile away from them or any other “quantum stock” but for those interested I didn’t want to ignore the trend.
If you’re seeking income alone and throwing caution to the wind then RGTI will foot the bill. I really cannot believe the 40 DTE ATM call offers approximately 22% in premium! If it was possible to sell just 5 monthly calls on this stock then the income received would surpass the initial investment of $893 for 100 shares. Just crazy!
Still, tread very, very, very, carefully. I don’t believe this level of hype will last and if you’re stuck in a covered call when the mood changes you’ll be wishing that 22% was closer to 100%. To say that another way, the stock to me is simply saying, “hey, I’ll give you $200 to take from you $693”. Not a deal I’m wanting to make.
Final Thoughts
Well, that just about wraps up our best covered call stocks list. I know many of the assets listed are largely unheard off which really means caution is warranted. Outside of Ford, I don’t suspect I deal with any of the others in my own day to day life. Further, any time a stock is under $10 in today’s market then it’s more than likely just a lottery ticket play and not something to count on for any length of time.
That said, I do search for these assets based on criteria that I believe good stocks (not RGTI) generally boast. With healthy profit margins and plenty of free cash flow most of these companies could weather a mild storm and still be around. That’s important to me because I would at least like to believe the share price would eventually come back above my cost basis.
In any case, trade carefully and reach out in the comments if you know of some other covered call stocks under $10 worth considering. I know everyone would be pleased to have a look at them as well.
Until the next post.
God bless,
Jeff