The Delta Greek: How To Measure Option Premium

When the markets move, the Delta Greek can be one of the most valuable metrics to options traders. There’s a particular correlation between the Delta Greek and options premium that can help traders find out how much the price of an option is expected to change.

From my personal experience, I believe this pattern can be a huge difference maker for options traders—especially in volatile markets.

I’ll break down what the Delta Greek is, how it works, and why it can be a useful tool to measure option premium.

What Is The Delta Greek?

In a nutshell, the Delta Greek tells us how much the price of an option contract is expected to change, relative to a $1 move in the price of the underlying asset.

The chart above breaks down how it works for call and put options.

Call Options

• The Delta ranges from 0 to +1 (or +100)
• Far out-of-the-money (OTM) calls have a Delta near 0
• Deep in-the-money (ITM) calls have a Delta near +1 (or +100)

For call options, the chart uses a stock valued at $100 with a $3.00 call option as an example. The Delta for that $3.00 call option is 0.50.

In this example, if the stock price rises to $101, the call option price rises to $3.50.

Conversely, if the stock price drops to $99, the call option price drops to $2.50.

The Delta Greek is considered one of the most useful metrics for day trading options. In fact, my colleague Mike Shorr is hosting his first ever Open House in his Live Trading Room next week. Mike specializes in day trading options, whose Live Trade Signals showed triple digit results from 2020-2025. If you’re interested in getting your free pass for Mike’s Open House, go to this page for more information.

Put Options

• Delta ranges from 0 to -1 (or -100)
• Far OTM puts have a Delta near 0
• Deep ITM puts have a Delta near -1 (or -100)

It’s essentially the opposite for puts. The chart also uses a stock valued at $100 with a $3.00 put option. The Delta for the $3.00 put is -0.50.

In this example, if the stock price rises to $101, the put option price drops to $2.50.

If the stock price drops to $99, the put option price increases to $3.50.

Option Premium & Intrinsic Value

To better understand how the Delta Greek correlates with an option’s premium, we’ll start by defining two key terms: Premium (Extrinsic Value), and Intrinsic Value.

Intrinsic Value

This is the difference between the strike price of an option contract, and the underlying asset’s price. You get the intrinsic value by subtracting the strike price from the underlying asset’s price.

Here’s an example:

• The stock price is $100
• The strike price of an option contract is $95
• You would subtract $95 (strike price) from the stock price ($100)
• That leaves you with a difference of $5 (your intrinsic value)

Premium (Extrinsic Value)

To clarify—when I refer to “premium,” it’s always the same as “extrinsic value.”

An option’s premium is the difference between the contract price and intrinsic value. It’s essentially what buyers pay for the “hope” that the option gains more value before it expires (another way to think of it is “extra value”).

Here’s an example:

• The stock price is $100
• The strike price is $95
• One contract costs $7.50
• The intrinsic value is $5 ($100 stock price minus the $95 strike price)
• You would then subtract the $5 (intrinsic value) from $7.50 (contract price)
• That leaves you with a difference of $2.50—which is your premium (aka extrinsic value)

When an option contract expires, the premium amount is worth $0. At expiration, one of two things happen:

The option expires worthless because it’s OTM…

Or if it’s ITM, the option gets converted to stock or cash-settled for index options. This allows the holder to realize that intrinsic value as profit (minus commissions/fees).

Option Delta Distribution

So, how does the Delta Greek factor into option premium and intrinsic value?

This chart explains the relationship between Delta ITM, OTM, and at-the-money (ATM) options.

To reiterate, calls get closer to +1 (or +100), when they’re further ITM, while puts get closer to -1 (or -100).

Both go further to zero when they’re OTM.

Now, there’s one Delta that I believe it can be especially crucial one for trading options:

The 50 Delta.

For calls, it’s measured as +.5 (or +50). For puts, it’s measured as -.5 (or -50).

While 0 and +/- 1 (or +/-100) Delta signifies if an option is OTM or ITM, the 50 Delta tells us that an option is ATM. This means the option’s strike price is equal (or very close) to the underlying asset’s current price.

If you can’t figure out where a stock is trading, I would consider looking at its 50 Delta options.

There’s a few reasons why this information is so valuable, and pertains to option premium. Since the option is ATM, it has zero intrinsic value, and the highest premium (aka extrinsic) value. This makes the 50 Delta a quick proxy, by telling you approximately where the stock is currently trading.

For example, if the 50 Delta call is at the $100 strike, then the stock is likely trading at (or near) $100.

Some traders like to scan option chains sorted by the Delta Greek. It helps them spot ATM options without needing the underlying asset’s price. This can be especially useful for quick analysis, comparing other metrics like Implied Volatility (IV), or picking strikes for neutral or volatility-centered trading strategies.

Mike Shorr utilizes strategies like these in his 1-Hour Trading Day System, which helped his Live Trade Signals show triple digit results from 2020-2025. He’s holding his first ever Open House next week, where you can watch Mike put his option day trading strategies into action in real time. Check out this page to reserve your free spot for Mike’s Open House.

How Premium Value Is Priced Into An Option

I call this next chart “Delta & Option Moneyness.” The chart shows how much premium (aka extrinsic) value is priced into an option. It also provides a clearer visual of the correlation between the Delta Greek and option premium value.

The graph shows call Deltas 0 to 1 (or +100), and put Deltas 0 to -1 (or -100).

Right in the middle (ATM) is where the most premium will be—as I clarified in the previous section.

In regards to premium value, here’s what this chart shows:

The further away you go from being ATM, the less premium there’s going to be—regardless if you’re ITM or OTM.

I’ll let the video above do most of the talking. While I went over a lot in this piece, I believe a really effective way of tying it all together and have it really click for some people is by putting everything I covered into action. In yesterday’s MarketMinds episode, I covered this very topic. Towards the end of yesterday’s episode, I looked at a few examples in stocks requested by my viewers.

The first stock I looked at was Broadcom Inc. (AVGO). I covered how the correlation between the Delta Greek and option premium value manifests for ITM, OTM, and ATM options. For each scenario, I broke down each option’s Delta measurements, along with calculating the intrinsic and premium (extrinsic) values.

The Bottom Line

I believe that understanding the Delta Greek can give options traders a powerful framework for interpreting how price movement, probability, and premium interact. Delta isn’t just a measure of sensitivity. It’s a window into how much intrinsic value an option has, and the amount of premium the market is assigning based on time and expectations.

By recognizing that ATM options carry the highest premium (extrinsic) value—which declines as contracts move ITM or OTM—traders can more confidently select strikes, structure trades, and manage risk.

Whether you’re scanning for ATM opportunities, comparing volatility across strikes, or evaluating how much “extra value” you’re paying for, Delta helps bring clarity to the option chain. When used correctly, it can turn abstract pricing into something measurable and repeatable. The more you understand this correlation between the Delta Greek and premium, the better equipped I believe you’ll be to trade options with intention in any market environment.

This correlation between the Delta Greek and premium can be very effective for day trading options. Mike Shorr—whose options day trading system helped his trade signals show triple digit results from 2020-2025— is hosting his first ever Open House next week. If you’re interested in signing up, check out this page to get your free pass.

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Originally Posted February 6, 2026 – The Delta Greek: How To Measure Option Premium