AR Butterfly Strategy

AR (Antero Resources Corporation), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry), listed on NYSE.

Antero Resources Corporation functions as an independent energy enterprise, primarily engaged in identifying, acquiring, developing, and extracting natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and crude oil deposits throughout the United States. As of the close of 2021 (December 31st), the company held significant land positions, including roughly 502,000 net acres within the Appalachian Basin and an additional 174,000 net acres in the Upper Devonian Shale. Its infrastructure in the Appalachian Basin also featured 494 miles of operational gas gathering pipelines and 21 compressor stations. The firm's estimated proven reserves were substantial, totaling 17.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent. This quantity was composed of 10.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 718 million barrels of ethane expected to be recovered, 501 million barrels of other NGLs (such as propane, isobutane, normal butane, and natural gasoline), and 36 million barrels of oil. Established in 2002, Antero Resources Corporation originally operated under the name Antero Resources Appalachian Corporation, adopting its current identity in June 2013.

AR (Antero Resources Corporation) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, with a market capitalization of approximately $10.90B, a trailing P/E of 11.30, a beta of 0.32 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 29.1-45.75, average daily share volume of 5.1M, a public-listing history dating back to 2013, approximately 616 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how AR stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.32 indicates AR 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 11.30 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 AR?

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 AR snapshot

As of June 30, 2026, spot at $35.39, ATM IV 40.56%, IV rank 39.67%, expected move 11.63%. The butterfly on AR 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 31-day expiry.

Why this butterfly structure on AR specifically: AR IV at 40.56% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 11.63% (roughly $4.12 on the underlying). The 31-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated AR expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on AR should anchor to the underlying notional of $35.39 per share and to the trader's directional view on AR stock.

AR butterfly setup

The AR 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 AR near $35.39, the first option leg uses a $34.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed AR chain at a 31-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 AR shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

ActionTypeStrike / BasisPremium (est)
Buy 1Call$34.00$2.58
Sell 2Call$35.00$1.98
Buy 1Call$37.00$1.18

AR butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit
+$20.00
Max Profit (per contract)
$106.16
Max Loss (per contract)
-$80.00
Breakeven(s)
$36.20
Risk / Reward Ratio
1.327

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.

AR butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on AR. 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.

AR butterfly profit and loss curve at expiration with breakevens and current spot markedAR butterfly payoff at expiration-$50$0$50$100$10$20$30$40$50$60$70Underlying Price ($)P&L at Expiration ($)BE $36.20Spot $35.39
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 SpotP&L at Expiration
$0.01-100.0%+$20.00
$7.83-77.9%+$20.00
$15.66-55.8%+$20.00
$23.48-33.6%+$20.00
$31.31-11.5%+$20.00
$39.13+10.6%-$80.00
$46.95+32.7%-$80.00
$54.78+54.8%-$80.00
$62.60+76.9%-$80.00
$70.42+99.0%-$80.00

When traders use butterfly on AR

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

AR thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for AR extends from approximately $31.27 on the downside to $39.51 on the upside. A AR long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if AR settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current AR IV rank near 39.67% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on AR should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Energy name, AR options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to AR-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on AR?
A butterfly on AR is the butterfly strategy applied to AR (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 AR stock trading near $35.39, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed AR chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are AR 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 AR butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 40.56%), the computed maximum profit is $106.16 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$80.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a AR butterfly?
The breakeven for the AR butterfly priced on this page is roughly $36.20 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 AR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 11.63%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on AR?
Butterflies on AR are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect AR 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 AR implied volatility affect this butterfly?
AR ATM IV is at 40.56% with IV rank near 39.67%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.

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