How are FTCS 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 FTCS butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 14.20%), the computed maximum profit is $262.74 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$189.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a FTCS butterfly?

The breakeven for the FTCS butterfly priced on this page is roughly $97.89 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The FTCS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 4.07%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current FTCS implied volatility affect this butterfly?

FTCS ATM IV is at 14.20% with IV rank near 21.43%, 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.

FTCS Butterfly Strategy

FTCS (First Trust Capital Strength ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on NASDAQ.

FTCS seeks to outperform the broader large-cap space by selecting companies based on their strength of their balance sheets, looking at cash balances, long-term debt ratios, and ROE. FTCS picks from a relatively narrow subset of the large-cap universe: the NASDAQ US benchmark, a 500-firm composite of NASDAQ-listed companies. By design, FTCS will always struggle to reflect the broad large-cap market given its limited selection universe, but it fills a niche within a crowded segment. The index undergoes quarterly reconstitution and rebalance. FTCS formerly tracked a large-cap value index and traded under the ticker FDV. The fund was rebranded in May 2013.

FTCS (First Trust Capital Strength ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $7.77B, a beta of 0.53 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 89.76-101.12, average daily share volume of 635K, a public-listing history dating back to 2006. These structural characteristics shape how FTCS etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.53 indicates FTCS has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. FTCS pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on FTCS?

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.

FTCS snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $101.02, ATM IV 14.20%, IV rank 21.43%, expected move 4.07%. The butterfly on FTCS below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 98-day expiry.

Why this butterfly structure on FTCS specifically: FTCS IV at 14.20% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a FTCS butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 4.07% (roughly $4.11 on the underlying). The 98-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated FTCS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on FTCS should anchor to the underlying notional of $101.02 per share and to the trader's directional view on FTCS etf.

FTCS butterfly setup

The FTCS butterfly below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With FTCS at $101.02 on that close, the first option leg uses a $96.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed FTCS chain at a 98-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 FTCS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$96.00	$6.50
Sell 2	Call	$101.00	$3.24
Buy 1	Call	$104.00	$1.87

FTCS butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$189.00
Max Profit (per contract): $262.74
Max Loss (per contract): -$189.00
Breakeven(s): $97.89
Risk / Reward Ratio: 1.390

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.

FTCS butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on FTCS. 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.

P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.

Underlying Price	% From Spot	P&L at Expiration
$0.01	-100.0%	-$189.00
$22.34	-77.9%	-$189.00
$44.68	-55.8%	-$189.00
$67.01	-33.7%	-$189.00
$89.35	-11.6%	-$189.00
$111.68	+10.6%	+$11.00
$134.02	+32.7%	+$11.00
$156.35	+54.8%	+$11.00
$178.69	+76.9%	+$11.00
$201.02	+99.0%	+$11.00

When traders use butterfly on FTCS

Butterflies on FTCS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect FTCS 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.

FTCS thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for FTCS extends from approximately $96.91 on the downside to $105.13 on the upside. A FTCS long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if FTCS settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current FTCS IV rank near 21.43% 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 FTCS at 14.20%. As a Financial Services name, FTCS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to FTCS-specific events.

FTCS 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. FTCS positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move FTCS alongside the broader basket even when FTCS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current FTCS chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on FTCS?: A butterfly on FTCS is the butterfly strategy applied to FTCS (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 FTCS etf at $101.02 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed FTCS chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
How are FTCS 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 FTCS butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 14.20%), the computed maximum profit is $262.74 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$189.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a FTCS butterfly?: The breakeven for the FTCS butterfly priced on this page is roughly $97.89 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The FTCS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 4.07%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on FTCS?: Butterflies on FTCS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect FTCS 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 FTCS implied volatility affect this butterfly?: FTCS ATM IV is at 14.20% with IV rank near 21.43%, 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.