AIS Butterfly Strategy
AIS (VistaShares Artificial Intelligence Supercycle ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
The fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in a portfolio of global AI companies. The Sub-Adviser seeks to invest the fund’s assets to achieve returns similar to those of the BITA VistaShares Artificial Intelligence Supercycle Index. Under normal circumstances, the fund will invest at least 80% of the fund’s net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in AI companies.
AIS (VistaShares Artificial Intelligence Supercycle ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $221.3M, a beta of 2.87 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 23.83-71.595, average daily share volume of 255K, a public-listing history dating back to 2024. These structural characteristics shape how AIS etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 2.87 indicates AIS has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position.
What is a butterfly on AIS?
A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration.
Current AIS snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $68.42, ATM IV 55.50%, IV rank 12.43%, expected move 15.91%. The butterfly on AIS below is built from the same end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 34-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on AIS specifically: AIS IV at 55.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a AIS butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 15.91% (roughly $10.89 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated AIS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on AIS should anchor to the underlying notional of $68.42 per share and to the trader's directional view on AIS etf.
AIS butterfly setup
The AIS butterfly below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With AIS near $68.42, the first option leg uses a $65.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed AIS chain at a 34-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 AIS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $65.00 | $6.35 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $70.00 | $4.35 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $70.00 | $4.35 |
AIS butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$200.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $300.00
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$200.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $67.00
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.500
Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit.
AIS butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on AIS. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | -$200.00 |
| $15.14 | -77.9% | -$200.00 |
| $30.26 | -55.8% | -$200.00 |
| $45.39 | -33.7% | -$200.00 |
| $60.52 | -11.5% | -$200.00 |
| $75.64 | +10.6% | +$300.00 |
| $90.77 | +32.7% | +$300.00 |
| $105.90 | +54.8% | +$300.00 |
| $121.03 | +76.9% | +$300.00 |
| $136.15 | +99.0% | +$300.00 |
When traders use butterfly on AIS
Butterflies on AIS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect AIS to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
AIS thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for AIS extends from approximately $57.53 on the downside to $79.31 on the upside. A AIS long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if AIS settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current AIS IV rank near 12.43% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on AIS at 55.50%. As a Financial Services name, AIS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to AIS-specific events.
AIS butterfly positions are structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward); the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. AIS positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move AIS alongside the broader basket even when AIS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current AIS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on AIS?
- A butterfly on AIS is the butterfly strategy applied to AIS (etf). The strategy is structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward): A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration. With AIS etf trading near $68.42, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed AIS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are AIS butterfly max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit. For the AIS butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 55.50%), the computed maximum profit is $300.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$200.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a AIS butterfly?
- The breakeven for the AIS butterfly priced on this page is roughly $67.00 at expiration, derived from end-of-day chain premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The current AIS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 15.91%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on AIS?
- Butterflies on AIS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect AIS to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
- How does current AIS implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- AIS ATM IV is at 55.50% with IV rank near 12.43%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.