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Why does my option symbol end in a 1?

A 1 on the end of an option symbol means the contract was adjusted after a company event. It may no longer deliver 100 plain shares, so the price you see can fool you.

Options guide · 6-minute read · Updated 2026-10-28

The short answer

The 1 means the contract was adjusted. Something happened to the company, such as a reverse split, a merger or a spin-off. The contract you hold was changed to match.

The Options Clearing Corporation (the OCC, the group that stands behind every listed US option) makes the change. When it does, the option's root symbol usually gets a number. XYZ becomes XYZ1. A second adjustment later can make it XYZ2.

The number is a warning label. It says: this contract is not the normal one any more. Read what it delivers before you trade it.

What an option symbol normally says

A standard stock option symbol packs four things into one line:

• the root (usually the stock's ticker, like XYZ);
• the Expiration date;
• C for a Call option or P for a Put option;
• the Strike price.

A standard contract delivers 100 shares of that one stock. That's the deal every Options chain assumes. You see a strike and a price and you can do the math in your head.

An adjusted contract breaks that habit. Its root changes, so it often shows up on a separate chain, or at the bottom of the normal one. The strike may look normal. What it delivers is not.

What changed inside your contract

The OCC's goal is simple. The event itself shouldn't make either side richer or poorer. So it changes what the contract delivers, and sometimes the strike, to keep the value the same on the day of the event.

Common changes:

Every case is different. The exact terms for your contract sit in an OCC information memo, a short notice the OCC publishes for each adjustment. My guide on how to read an OCC memo walks through one line by line.

Why the price on screen can fool you (an illustration, not a trade idea)

Here's a made-up case. XYZ traded at $3. It did a 1-for-10 reverse split. Now there are fewer shares, and each one trades at $30.

Before the split, you could buy a normal XYZ $5 call. After the split, that call became an XYZ1 $5 call. The strike stayed at $5. But it now delivers 10 new shares, not 100.

A trader scrolls the chain. They see a $5 call on a $30 stock, offered at $0.50. It looks like it's $25 in the money for almost nothing. They buy one for $50.

Now do the real math:

The call is not in the money at all. It only would be if the stock rose above $50 (10 shares × $50 = $500). At expiry, a stock at $30 leaves the buyer down the full −$50.

That's why the 1 matters. The strike didn't lie. The number of shares changed under it.

What to check when you see the number

1. Open the contract details in your broker. Look for "deliverable" or "contract terms". It should list shares, cash, or both.
2. Work out the real value. Add up what the contract delivers at today's prices. Compare it with the strike × 100. That's the true in-the-money amount.
3. Find the OCC memo. The OCC website has an information memo search. Type in the ticker. The memo gives the new symbol, the new deliverable and the date it took effect.
4. Look at the bid and the ask. Adjusted contracts often trade thin. The gap between the bid and the ask can be wide.
5. Plan to close, not to trade. New positions usually open in the standard contracts, so adjusted ones dry up over time. Most people holding one simply close it or let it run to expiry.

My free adjusted option deliverable calculator adds up the deliverable and the real intrinsic value from your inputs.

What it means if you sell covered calls or puts

If you run the wheel strategy, an adjusted contract changes your plan in two ways.

Your covered call may not match your shares. After a 1-for-10 reverse split, your 100 shares become 10. Your old call now covers 10 shares, so it's still covered. But you can't sell a new standard call until you hold 100 shares again. See reverse splits and your options.

Your short put may deliver something odd. If an adjusted put ends in Assignment, you buy whatever the memo says: maybe shares of two companies, maybe shares plus cash. Know what that is before it lands in your account.

Either way, the bigger guide on corporate actions and your options shows each event side by side.

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