Long Put Calculator
Use this free long put calculator to model your trade before you place it. Enter your strike price and premium to instantly see max profit, max loss, breakeven, and a full P&L diagram.
How to use the long put calculator
Enter your trade details above and the calculator updates your results in real time. Here is what each input does.
Enter the strike price
This is the price at which you have the right to sell the stock. Choose the strike you are targeting for your bearish trade.
Enter the premium paid
This is what you paid per share for the put option. The calculator multiplies this by 100 to show your total cost per contract.
Enter number of contracts
Each contract controls 100 shares. Increase this to see how your total P&L scales with position size.
Review your results
The P&L diagram updates instantly. Read off your breakeven price, max loss, and how profit grows as the stock falls.
Understanding the long put strategy
A long put is the most straightforward bearish options strategy. When you buy a put option, you are paying a premium for the right to sell 100 shares of stock at the strike price on or before the expiration date. You are not obligated to sell. If the stock never falls below the strike price, you simply let the option expire and your loss is capped at the premium paid.
Buying a put offers a significant advantage over short selling: your risk is completely defined from the start. A short seller can face unlimited losses if the stock rises sharply, but a put buyer can never lose more than the premium paid. This makes long puts popular as both a standalone bearish bet and as portfolio insurance to protect existing long stock positions from a large decline.
When to use a long put
Long puts work best when you have strong conviction that a stock will fall meaningfully before expiration and you want to define your downside risk upfront. They are commonly used ahead of a bearish catalyst such as an earnings miss, a sector downturn, or macro headwinds where a large move is expected but you want to cap what you can lose. If you are only moderately bearish and want to reduce your premium cost, a bear put spread is worth considering since it lowers your breakeven cost in exchange for capping your maximum gain.
Long put example with real numbers
Here is a worked example you can enter directly into the calculator above to see the P&L diagram in action.
Trade setup: XYZ stock trading at $50.00
Explore other options strategy calculators
Each strategy has its own dedicated calculator with a full P&L breakdown, worked example, and FAQ.
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Track your put option trades over time
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Long put options: frequently asked questions
A long put option is when you buy a put option contract, giving you the right but not the obligation to sell 100 shares of stock at the strike price before expiration. You pay a premium for this right. The trade is bearish. You profit when the stock falls below your breakeven price, and your maximum loss is limited to the premium paid if the stock stays at or above the strike at expiration.
The maximum profit on a long put is realized if the stock falls all the way to zero. It equals the strike price minus the premium paid, multiplied by 100 shares per contract. For example, with a $45 strike and a $2.00 premium, the max profit is $4,300 per contract. In practice stocks rarely go to zero, but large downward moves can still produce substantial gains relative to the premium risked.
The maximum loss on a long put is the total premium paid. If the stock stays at or above the strike price at expiration, the option expires worthless and you lose the entire premium. For one contract at $2.00 per share, your max loss is $200. This fully defined risk is one of the primary advantages of buying puts over short selling, where losses are theoretically unlimited.
The breakeven price for a long put is your strike price minus the premium paid per share. For example, if you buy a put with a $45 strike and pay $2.00 in premium, your breakeven is $43.00. The stock must close below $43.00 at expiration for the trade to show a profit. The long put calculator above computes this automatically the moment you enter your inputs.
Buying a put is worth considering any time you want strictly defined risk on a bearish trade. Short selling exposes you to unlimited losses if the stock rises sharply and also requires a margin account. A long put limits your loss to the premium paid, requires less capital, and gives you leveraged downside exposure. Puts are also useful as a hedge to protect an existing long stock position against a large drop, something short selling cannot do on the same position.