ARE Butterfly Strategy
ARE (Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.), in the Real Estate sector, (REIT - Office industry), listed on NYSE.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE), an S&P 500® real estate investment trust, stands as the pioneering and most seasoned entity in the specialized domain of urban office properties. Since its inception in 1994, Alexandria has uniquely focused on the ownership, operation, and development of integrated campuses tailored for the life science, technology, and agtech sectors, strategically positioned within premier innovation ecosystems. By December 31, 2020, the company commanded a market capitalization of $31.9 billion and managed an extensive North American asset portfolio totaling 49.7 million square feet. This substantial base encompasses 31.9 million RSF of operational properties, 3.3 million RSF of premium Class A spaces currently under construction, 7.1 million RSF designated for near-to-mid-term development and refurbishment, and an additional 7.4 million SF earmarked for future projects. Alexandria has cultivated a significant footprint across vital innovation hubs such as Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Its established expertise lies in crafting superior Class A facilities within these urban campuses, fostering dynamic and collaborative environments.
ARE (Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.) trades in the Real Estate sector, specifically REIT - Office, with a market capitalization of approximately $8.39B, a beta of 1.17 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 39.41-88.24, average daily share volume of 2.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 1997, approximately 514 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how ARE stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.17 places ARE roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. ARE pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on ARE?
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.
ARE snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $48.36, ATM IV 36.60%, IV rank 26.37%, expected move 10.49%. The butterfly on ARE 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 63-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on ARE specifically: ARE IV at 36.60% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a ARE butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.49% (roughly $5.07 on the underlying). The 63-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated ARE expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ARE should anchor to the underlying notional of $48.36 per share and to the trader's directional view on ARE stock.
ARE butterfly setup
The ARE 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 ARE at $48.36 on that close, the first option leg uses a $45.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed ARE chain at a 63-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 ARE shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $45.00 | $5.00 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $47.50 | $3.55 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $50.00 | $2.03 |
ARE butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- +$7.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $243.90
- Max Loss (per contract)
- $7.50
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 32.520
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.
ARE butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on ARE. 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% | +$7.50 |
| $10.70 | -77.9% | +$7.50 |
| $21.39 | -55.8% | +$7.50 |
| $32.08 | -33.7% | +$7.50 |
| $42.78 | -11.5% | +$7.50 |
| $53.47 | +10.6% | +$7.50 |
| $64.16 | +32.7% | +$7.50 |
| $74.85 | +54.8% | +$7.50 |
| $85.54 | +76.9% | +$7.50 |
| $96.23 | +99.0% | +$7.50 |
When traders use butterfly on ARE
Butterflies on ARE are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ARE 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.
ARE thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ARE extends from approximately $43.29 on the downside to $53.43 on the upside. A ARE long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if ARE settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current ARE IV rank near 26.37% 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 ARE at 36.60%. As a Real Estate name, ARE options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ARE-specific events.
ARE 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. ARE positions also carry Real Estate sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move ARE alongside the broader basket even when ARE-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current ARE chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on ARE?
- A butterfly on ARE is the butterfly strategy applied to ARE (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 ARE stock at $48.36 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ARE chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are ARE 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 ARE butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 36.60%), the computed maximum profit is $243.90 per contract and the computed maximum loss is $7.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a ARE butterfly?
- The breakeven for the ARE butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 ARE market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 10.49%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on ARE?
- Butterflies on ARE are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ARE 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 ARE implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- ARE ATM IV is at 36.60% with IV rank near 26.37%, 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.