VOX Butterfly Strategy
VOX (Vanguard Communication Services ETF), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management industry), listed on AMEX.
Seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of stocks in the communication services sector. Passively managed, using a full-replication strategy when possible and a sampling strategy if regulatory constraints dictate. Includes stocks of companies that provide telephone, data-transmission, cellular, wireless communication services and offer related content and information through various media.
VOX (Vanguard Communication Services ETF) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management, with a market capitalization of approximately $6.41B, a beta of 0.98 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 155.92-200.77, average daily share volume of 246K, a public-listing history dating back to 2004. These structural characteristics shape how VOX etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.98 places VOX roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. VOX pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on VOX?
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 VOX snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $195.78, ATM IV 19.90%, IV rank 48.69%, expected move 5.71%. The butterfly on VOX 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 VOX specifically: VOX IV at 19.90% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.71% (roughly $11.17 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 VOX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on VOX should anchor to the underlying notional of $195.78 per share and to the trader's directional view on VOX etf.
VOX butterfly setup
The VOX 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 VOX near $195.78, the first option leg uses a $186.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed VOX 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 VOX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $186.00 | $12.35 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $196.00 | $5.25 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $205.00 | $2.43 |
VOX butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$427.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $495.62
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$427.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $190.28, $201.73
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.159
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.
VOX butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on VOX. 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% | -$427.50 |
| $43.30 | -77.9% | -$427.50 |
| $86.58 | -55.8% | -$427.50 |
| $129.87 | -33.7% | -$427.50 |
| $173.16 | -11.6% | -$427.50 |
| $216.44 | +10.6% | -$327.50 |
| $259.73 | +32.7% | -$327.50 |
| $303.02 | +54.8% | -$327.50 |
| $346.31 | +76.9% | -$327.50 |
| $389.59 | +99.0% | -$327.50 |
When traders use butterfly on VOX
Butterflies on VOX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect VOX 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.
VOX thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for VOX extends from approximately $184.61 on the downside to $206.95 on the upside. A VOX long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if VOX settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current VOX IV rank near 48.69% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on VOX should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, VOX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to VOX-specific events.
VOX 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. VOX positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move VOX alongside the broader basket even when VOX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current VOX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on VOX?
- A butterfly on VOX is the butterfly strategy applied to VOX (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 VOX etf trading near $195.78, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed VOX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are VOX 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 VOX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 19.90%), the computed maximum profit is $495.62 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$427.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a VOX butterfly?
- The breakeven for the VOX butterfly priced on this page is roughly $190.28 and $201.73 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 VOX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 5.71%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on VOX?
- Butterflies on VOX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect VOX 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 VOX implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- VOX ATM IV is at 19.90% with IV rank near 48.69%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.