Let , and assume the payoff has sufficient integrability for risk-neutral valuation. Under the risk-neutral measure , the Black-Scholes model has , so conditionally on ,
Absence of arbitrage gives the time- price
For a regular payoff this is the solution of the Black-Scholes equation with terminal value , and the delta hedge replicates it. Suitable limits or conditional-expectation representations extend the price formula beyond smooth terminal payoffs.
For the logarithmic stock payoff, put . Its Gaussian moment-generating function is , while differentiating that moment gives . Therefore
The option delta is , and the second stock derivative is . The Black-Scholes equation can also be checked directly from .
For general convex , let . For , convexity gives
Taking the positive discounted expectation proves that is convex. Its derivative, where defined, is therefore nondecreasing, proving that the stock holding in the delta hedge rises weakly with the stock price. For twice differentiable , differentiation gives . For a merely convex payoff, Gaussian smoothing at and the usual growth assumptions give the same conclusion; one-sided derivatives are monotone even without smoothing. Strict increase is not implied by convexity alone: an affine payoff has constant option delta.
For the random constant Gaussian interest-rate mixture, represent the rate as , with independent standard normal variables. This independence simply represents averaging the constant-rate price function over its Gaussian parameter. Completing the square in yields the identity
Apply it inside the time-zero price formula:
The combined normal term has variance . Define and . Then the discount factor is , and the log-price mean is . Thus the expectation is exactly the constant-parameter Black-Scholes model price with those parameters:
The argument applies to nonnegative payoffs by Tonelli theorem, and to signed payoffs whenever absolute integrability justifies the expectations. It averages constant-rate prices; it does not assume a stochastic short-rate process.