Get Paid 8.1% A Year To Hold RTX Stock You Already Own

Here is a way to get paid a meaningful income right now on your RTX shares, an income you keep no matter what, in exchange for agreeing to sell at a price above today’s.

RTX (RTX) has been a solid performer, climbing +33.4% over the past year on the back of a defense and aerospace recovery, and it currently trades about $191.78 a share. The company just delivered a strong quarter with 10% organic sales growth and raised its full-year outlook, backed by what it calls a record backlog. For shareholders who have enjoyed the ride, the question is what to do now. A strong answer is to turn those shares into an income stream, starting today.

8.1% annualized income on RTX shares you already own, with 9.5% of upside room, by selling a covered call.

• You own (or buy) 100 shares of RTX near today’s price of $191.78.
• Sell one call option on RTX expiring 6/17/2027, with a strike price of $210, about 9.5% above today.
• Collect roughly $1,483 in premium up front per contract (each contract covers 100 shares), which you keep no matter what the stock does.
• That premium is about 8.1% annualized on the $19,178 of stock, income you earn just for holding.
• If RTX finishes above $210, your shares are called away at $210. Counting the premium, your total return works out to about 18% annualized, but you give up any gains above the strike.

Both Outcomes Put Cash In Your Pocket

If RTX finishes below $210 on 6/17/2027, the call expires worthless, and you keep the full $1,483 premium and all your shares. That is about 7.7% over 351 days, income earned just for holding, and you are free to sell another call.

If RTX finishes above $210, your 100 shares are called away at $210. You still keep the $1,483 premium, and counting it your total gain works out to about 17%, a healthy exit. The cost of the trade is that any gain above $210 is no longer yours. And if the stock instead falls, you keep the premium but still ride the shares down, cushioned only slightly.

So the whole trade comes down to one thing: how much of that upside are you really likely to give up, and would you be content to sell at that higher price?

Before You Sell That Call, Know What You Are Capping

The real cost of this trade is the upside you cap. If the stock roars past your exit price, you’ll miss those extra gains. So, how much blue sky are you really giving up? The bull case is straightforward: with a record $271 billion backlog and major new defense agreements for systems like Tomahawk and AMRAAM, the company has years of demand locked in. Management is confident enough to be raising its sales and earnings guidance for the year. If RTX executes smoothly, the stock could certainly have another leg up, and capping it would feel like leaving the party early. We took a closer look at the valuation of a key peer in a separate piece, which raises similar questions about future upside.

But that execution is the central question. The bear case, voiced by analysts on the company’s latest call, isn’t about a lack of demand but the ability to meet it. An analyst asked how concerned management was about the supply chain’s ability to keep pace. The company acknowledged that ramping up production will require a “step change” from its suppliers. A question highlighted the risk of slowing air travel growth, which could dampen the high-margin commercial aftermarket business. If these operational hurdles prove significant, the stock’s climb could be far more gradual, making the decision to sell a call for immediate income look pretty sharp. The thing to watch is the supply chain’s performance; management noted that material receipts at its Raytheon segment were up 13% in Q1, and continuing that momentum is critical to converting that giant backlog into profit.

How Much Could The Stocks You Hold Pay You?

You may not own RTX, but you almost certainly own something that could be paying you. Our Covered Call Finder lets you type in a stock, or a few, and instantly see the income a covered call could generate on each, then dial the strike up or down with a slider to balance more income against more upside. It is the quickest way to see what the names in your own portfolio could pay.

Where This Income Trade Fits A Bigger Plan

A covered call turns one stock you own into income, but the premium and the downside still come from a single company in a single corner of the market. Durable results come from owning quality ACROSS sectors, so that no one name, and no one theme, decides how your year goes.

That is what the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio is built for:  30 high-quality businesses spread across sectors, each chosen on the full weight of its fundamentals rather than a single setup, then sized and rebalanced with discipline. It has a track record of outpacing a benchmark that combines the three major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. Write calls for income on the names you like, on top of a diversified core that does not lean on any one company or theme.