AMPH Butterfly Strategy
AMPH (Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., established in 1996 and based in Rancho Cucamonga, California, functions as a biopharmaceutical enterprise. The company is engaged in the creation, production, commercialization, and distribution of both generic and proprietary pharmaceutical products, which include injectables, inhalants, and intranasal formulations. Its market presence extends across the United States, China, and France. Amphastar's operations are divided into two primary segments: Finished Pharmaceutical Products and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API). The company's extensive product portfolio encompasses a variety of crucial medications. These feature Primatene Mist, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhaler for the temporary alleviation of mild asthma symptoms; Enoxaparin, a low molecular weight heparin utilized for the prevention and treatment of deep vein thrombosis; and Naloxone, an essential treatment for opioid overdose.
AMPH (Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic, with a market capitalization of approximately $881.0M, a trailing P/E of 11.10, a beta of 0.90 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 16.65-31.26, average daily share volume of 567K, a public-listing history dating back to 2014, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how AMPH stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.90 places AMPH roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 11.10 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price. AMPH pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on AMPH?
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.
AMPH snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $20.94, ATM IV 83.80%, IV rank 14.66%, expected move 24.02%. The butterfly on AMPH 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 AMPH specifically: AMPH IV at 83.80% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a AMPH butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 24.02% (roughly $5.03 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 AMPH expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on AMPH should anchor to the underlying notional of $20.94 per share and to the trader's directional view on AMPH stock.
AMPH butterfly setup
The AMPH 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 AMPH at $20.94 on that close, the first option leg uses a $19.89 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed AMPH 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 AMPH shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $19.89 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $20.94 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $21.99 | N/A |
AMPH 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.
AMPH butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on AMPH. 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 AMPH
Butterflies on AMPH are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect AMPH 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.
AMPH thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for AMPH extends from approximately $15.91 on the downside to $25.97 on the upside. A AMPH long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if AMPH settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current AMPH IV rank near 14.66% 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 AMPH at 83.80%. As a Healthcare name, AMPH options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to AMPH-specific events.
AMPH 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. AMPH positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move AMPH alongside the broader basket even when AMPH-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current AMPH chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on AMPH?
- A butterfly on AMPH is the butterfly strategy applied to AMPH (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 AMPH stock at $20.94 on the most recent close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed AMPH chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are AMPH 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 AMPH butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 83.80%), 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 AMPH butterfly?
- The breakeven for the AMPH 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 AMPH market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 24.02%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on AMPH?
- Butterflies on AMPH are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect AMPH 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 AMPH implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- AMPH ATM IV is at 83.80% with IV rank near 14.66%, 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.