How are ALC 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 ALC butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 24.90%), the computed maximum profit is $166.39 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$312.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a ALC butterfly?

The breakeven for the ALC butterfly priced on this page is roughly $73.13 and $76.88 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 ALC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 7.14%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current ALC implied volatility affect this butterfly?

ALC ATM IV is at 24.90% with IV rank near 16.18%, 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.

ALC Butterfly Strategy

ALC (Alcon Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Specialties industry), listed on NYSE.

Alcon Inc. researches, develops, manufactures, distributes, and sells eye care products worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Surgical and Vision Care. It offers equipment, instrumentation and diagnostics, intraocular lenses (IOLs), and other implantables; and consumables, including viscoelastics, surgical solutions, incisional instruments, surgical custom packs, and other products for surgical procedures. The company’s cataract products include Unity CS, LenSx laser system, Verion reference unit and Verion digital marker, ARGOS biometer, SMARTCATARACT health platform, NGENUITY 3D visualization system, LuxOR surgical ophthalmic microscope, and ORA system for intra-operative measurements; ADI cloud-based platform; and implantable products, including monofocal, Toric, and Presbyopia-Correcting IOLs, as well as delivery systems, such as AutonoMe and UltraSert. In addition, it provides Custom Pak surgical procedure packs vitreoretinal products comprising constellation vision systems, procedure packs, lasers and hand-held microsurgical instruments, Grieshaber, MIVS instruments; scissors, forceps and micro-instruments, medical grade vitreous tamponades, and Hypervit probes; and refractive surgery products, including WaveLight and Contoura Vision used for LASIK refractive procedure. Further, the company offers daily disposable, reusable, and color-enhancing contact lenses; ocular health products, such as dry eye, ocular allergies, glaucoma, and contact lens care, as well as ocular vitamins and redness relievers.

ALC (Alcon Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Specialties, with a market capitalization of approximately $35.88B, a trailing P/E of 43.97, a beta of 0.70 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 61.835-90.41, average daily share volume of 2.1M, a public-listing history dating back to 2019, approximately 25K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how ALC stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.70 places ALC roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 43.97 is on the rich side, which tends to correlate with higher earnings-window IV expansion as the market debates whether forward growth supports the multiple. ALC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on ALC?

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.

ALC snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $74.41, ATM IV 24.90%, IV rank 16.18%, expected move 7.14%. The butterfly on ALC 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 7-day expiry.

Why this butterfly structure on ALC specifically: ALC IV at 24.90% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a ALC butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 7.14% (roughly $5.31 on the underlying). The 7-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated ALC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ALC should anchor to the underlying notional of $74.41 per share and to the trader's directional view on ALC stock.

ALC butterfly setup

The ALC 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 ALC at $74.41 on that close, the first option leg uses a $70.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed ALC chain at a 7-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 ALC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$70.00	$4.55
Sell 2	Call	$75.00	$0.85
Buy 1	Call	$77.50	$0.28

ALC butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$312.50
Max Profit (per contract): $166.39
Max Loss (per contract): -$312.50
Breakeven(s): $73.13, $76.88
Risk / Reward Ratio: 0.532

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.

ALC butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on ALC. 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%	-$312.50
$16.46	-77.9%	-$312.50
$32.91	-55.8%	-$312.50
$49.36	-33.7%	-$312.50
$65.82	-11.6%	-$312.50
$82.27	+10.6%	-$62.50
$98.72	+32.7%	-$62.50
$115.17	+54.8%	-$62.50
$131.62	+76.9%	-$62.50
$148.07	+99.0%	-$62.50

When traders use butterfly on ALC

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

ALC thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ALC extends from approximately $69.10 on the downside to $79.72 on the upside. A ALC long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if ALC settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current ALC IV rank near 16.18% 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 ALC at 24.90%. As a Healthcare name, ALC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ALC-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on ALC?: A butterfly on ALC is the butterfly strategy applied to ALC (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 ALC stock at $74.41 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ALC chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
How are ALC 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 ALC butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 24.90%), the computed maximum profit is $166.39 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$312.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a ALC butterfly?: The breakeven for the ALC butterfly priced on this page is roughly $73.13 and $76.88 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 ALC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 7.14%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on ALC?: Butterflies on ALC are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ALC 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 ALC implied volatility affect this butterfly?: ALC ATM IV is at 24.90% with IV rank near 16.18%, 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.