So essentially, if you hold a call that expires the week of earnings, unless the stock price is above your break even point (price + premium), you're fucked even if the price gets ITM.  Correct?

Perhaps you would get lucky with further movement up the following day, like what happened with AAPL, but that's not guaranteed because people trading actual shares may sell some to bank profits.

Seems like options that expire week of earnings are mad risky, better play would be 1-2 weeks after so you at least have some breathing room.