ACM Butterfly Strategy
ACM (Aecom), in the Industrials sector, (Engineering & Construction industry), listed on NYSE.
AECOM, along with its affiliated entities, delivers specialized infrastructure consulting services to public sector bodies, private businesses, and various organizations across the globe, with operations spanning the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. The company manages its extensive operations through three distinct segments: Americas, International, and AECOM Capital. For its commercial and governmental clientele, AECOM offers a comprehensive suite of services including strategic planning, expert consultation, architectural and engineering design, and robust construction and program management. Additionally, the firm is involved in investment and development initiatives, notably within the real estate sector. Its construction capabilities are extensive, covering general building projects, energy-related infrastructure, and industrial facilities. AECOM's proficiency is applied across critical sectors such as transportation, water resources, governmental services, facilities management, environmental solutions, and energy.
ACM (Aecom) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Engineering & Construction, with a market capitalization of approximately $9.13B, a trailing P/E of 18.08, a beta of 0.93 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 67.27-135.52, average daily share volume of 1.8M, a public-listing history dating back to 2007, approximately 51K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how ACM stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.93 places ACM roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. ACM pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on ACM?
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 ACM snapshot
As of June 30, 2026, spot at $69.60, ATM IV 33.00%, IV rank 21.95%, expected move 9.46%. The butterfly on ACM 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 17-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on ACM specifically: ACM IV at 33.00% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a ACM butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.46% (roughly $6.58 on the underlying). The 17-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated ACM expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ACM should anchor to the underlying notional of $69.60 per share and to the trader's directional view on ACM stock.
ACM butterfly setup
The ACM 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 ACM near $69.60, 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 ACM chain at a 17-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 ACM shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $65.00 | $4.30 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $70.00 | $1.80 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $72.50 | $0.85 |
ACM butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$155.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $340.47
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$155.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $66.55
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 2.197
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.
ACM butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on ACM. 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% | -$155.00 |
| $15.40 | -77.9% | -$155.00 |
| $30.79 | -55.8% | -$155.00 |
| $46.17 | -33.7% | -$155.00 |
| $61.56 | -11.5% | -$155.00 |
| $76.95 | +10.6% | +$95.00 |
| $92.34 | +32.7% | +$95.00 |
| $107.72 | +54.8% | +$95.00 |
| $123.11 | +76.9% | +$95.00 |
| $138.50 | +99.0% | +$95.00 |
When traders use butterfly on ACM
Butterflies on ACM are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ACM 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.
ACM thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ACM extends from approximately $63.02 on the downside to $76.18 on the upside. A ACM long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if ACM settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current ACM IV rank near 21.95% 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 ACM at 33.00%. As a Industrials name, ACM options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ACM-specific events.
ACM 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. ACM positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move ACM alongside the broader basket even when ACM-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current ACM chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on ACM?
- A butterfly on ACM is the butterfly strategy applied to ACM (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 ACM stock trading near $69.60, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ACM chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are ACM 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 ACM butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 33.00%), the computed maximum profit is $340.47 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$155.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a ACM butterfly?
- The breakeven for the ACM butterfly priced on this page is roughly $66.55 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 ACM market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 9.46%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on ACM?
- Butterflies on ACM are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ACM 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 ACM implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- ACM ATM IV is at 33.00% with IV rank near 21.95%, 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.