ABUS Butterfly Strategy
ABUS (Arbutus Biopharma Corp), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Arbutus Biopharma Corporation, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops novel therapeutics for infectious disease in the United States. Its chronic Hepatitis B virus product pipeline comprises Imdusiran, conjugated GalNAc, subcutaneously-delivered RNAi therapeutic product candidate which is in phase 2a clinical trials that suppresses all HBV antigens, including HBsAg expression; and AB-101, an oral PD-L1 inhibitor, which is in phase 1a/1b clinical trial that has the potential to reawaken patients’ HBV-specific immune response by inhibiting PD-L1. The company has licensing agreement with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop and commercialize products with LNP delivery technology. The company was formerly known as Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation and changed its name to Arbutus Biopharma Corporation in July 2015. Arbutus Biopharma Corporation was incorporated in 2005 is headquartered in Warminster, Pennsylvania.
ABUS (Arbutus Biopharma Corp) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $906.7M, a trailing P/E of 5.92, a beta of 0.60 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 3.31-5.38, average daily share volume of 1.9M, a public-listing history dating back to 2007, approximately 19 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how ABUS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.60 indicates ABUS has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. The trailing P/E of 5.92 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price.
What is a butterfly on ABUS?
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.
ABUS snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $4.67, ATM IV 300.40%, IV rank 73.28%, expected move 86.12%. The butterfly on ABUS below is built from the end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on ABUS specifically: ABUS IV at 300.40% is rich versus its 1-year range, which makes a premium-buying ABUS butterfly relatively expensive in absolute-cost terms, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 86.12% (roughly $4.02 on the underlying). The 35-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated ABUS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ABUS should anchor to the underlying notional of $4.67 per share and to the trader's directional view on ABUS stock.
ABUS butterfly setup
The ABUS 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 ABUS at $4.67 on that close, the first option leg uses a $4.44 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed ABUS chain at a 35-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 ABUS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $4.44 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $4.67 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $4.90 | N/A |
ABUS 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.
ABUS butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on ABUS. 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 ABUS
Butterflies on ABUS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ABUS 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.
ABUS thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ABUS extends from approximately $0.65 on the downside to $8.69 on the upside. A ABUS long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if ABUS settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current ABUS IV rank near 73.28% sits in the upper third of its 1-year distribution, which historically reverts; this raises the bar for premium-buying structures and lowers it for premium-selling structures on ABUS at 300.40%. As a Healthcare name, ABUS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ABUS-specific events.
ABUS 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. ABUS positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move ABUS alongside the broader basket even when ABUS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current ABUS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on ABUS?
- A butterfly on ABUS is the butterfly strategy applied to ABUS (stock). 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 ABUS stock at $4.67 on the most recent close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ABUS chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are ABUS 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 ABUS butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 300.40%), 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 ABUS butterfly?
- The breakeven for the ABUS butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve at expiration, derived from the 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 ABUS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 86.12%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on ABUS?
- Butterflies on ABUS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ABUS 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 ABUS implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- ABUS ATM IV is at 300.40% with IV rank near 73.28%, which is elevated relative to its 1-year range. Premium-selling structures (covered call, cash-secured put, iron condor) generally look more attractive when IV rank is high; premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are more expensive in that regime.