Exercise vs Sell Calculator

Compare a quoted option sale with immediate exercise and liquidation value after entered costs.

How to use this tool

This comparison assumes the option may be exercised now and that delivered stock can immediately be liquidated at the entered underlying price. The exercise result uses the signed stock/strike difference, so exercising an out-of-the-money option shows a loss. For a put, acquiring or delivering stock and short-stock restrictions can matter.

Sale preserves any time value in the executable bid; exercise forfeits it. The calculation omits dividend entitlement, financing, taxes and price movement during execution. European-style options cannot generally be exercised early.

Worked example

A call with $4 intrinsic and a $5 bid gives $100 more through sale per 100-unit contract before costs.

Related tools

Model references and conventions

365 calendar days per year. Continuous rates for theoretical pricing. All examples are illustrative.