How to read an option symbol

Options symbols contain key information about an option. Yahoo Finance uses OCC (Options Clearing Corporation) symbology. Click an option symbol to see its option summary page.

Read an option symbol

The components of an options symbol are:

Root symbol (ticker symbol) + Expiration Year (yy) + Expiration Month (mm) + Expiration Day (dd) + Call/Put Indicator (C or P) + Strike Price*.

Options symbol: YHOO150416C00030000

What it means:

ComponentValueLocation in symbol
Root SymbolYHOOYHOO150416C00030000
Expiration Year2015YHOO150416C00030000
Expiration Month04YHOO150416C00030000
Expiration Day16YHOO150416C00030000
Call or PutCallYHOO150416C00030000
Strike Price*$30.00YHOO150416C00030000

*The decimal point falls 3 places from the right in the options symbol: 00000.000

Detailed option summary

Click an option symbol to go to its option summary page showing detailed trading information including:

  • The root symbol the option applies to.
  • The expiration day, month, and year.
  • Whether the option is a call or a put.
  • The time and value of the last trade.
  • The day's trading range.
  • Bid and ask prices.
  • Trading volume.