YMAX Butterfly Strategy
YMAX (YieldMax Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs), in the Financial Services sector, (Asset Management - Income industry), listed on AMEX.
The YieldMax Universe fund of Option Income ETFs (YMAX) is an actively managed exchange-trade fund that seeks to generate current income. As a “fund-of-fund”, YMAX invests in the full suite of YieldMax option income ETFs. Each underlying YieldMax ETF seeks to generate income while offering exposure to the share price of a specific company or ETF.
YMAX (YieldMax Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset Management - Income, with a market capitalization of approximately $492.0M, a beta of 1.24 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 7.47-14.114, average daily share volume of 1.8M, a public-listing history dating back to 2024. These structural characteristics shape how YMAX etf options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.24 places YMAX roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. YMAX pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on YMAX?
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 YMAX snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $8.48, ATM IV 19.50%, IV rank 6.32%, expected move 5.59%. The butterfly on YMAX 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 63-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on YMAX specifically: YMAX IV at 19.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a YMAX butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.59% (roughly $0.47 on the underlying). The 63-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated YMAX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on YMAX should anchor to the underlying notional of $8.48 per share and to the trader's directional view on YMAX etf.
YMAX butterfly setup
The YMAX 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 YMAX near $8.48, the first option leg uses a $8.06 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed YMAX chain at a 63-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 YMAX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $8.06 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $8.48 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $8.90 | N/A |
YMAX butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
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.
YMAX butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on YMAX. 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.
When traders use butterfly on YMAX
Butterflies on YMAX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect YMAX 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.
YMAX thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for YMAX extends from approximately $8.01 on the downside to $8.95 on the upside. A YMAX long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if YMAX settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current YMAX IV rank near 6.32% 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 YMAX at 19.50%. As a Financial Services name, YMAX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to YMAX-specific events.
YMAX 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. YMAX positions also carry Financial Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move YMAX alongside the broader basket even when YMAX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current YMAX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on YMAX?
- A butterfly on YMAX is the butterfly strategy applied to YMAX (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 YMAX etf trading near $8.48, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed YMAX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are YMAX 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 YMAX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 19.50%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a YMAX butterfly?
- The breakeven for the YMAX butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 YMAX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 5.59%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on YMAX?
- Butterflies on YMAX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect YMAX 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 YMAX implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- YMAX ATM IV is at 19.50% with IV rank near 6.32%, 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.