ARWR Butterfly Strategy
ARWR (Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc., founded in 1989 and based in Pasadena, California, is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and advancing innovative treatments for complex and challenging-to-treat diseases within the United States. The company's extensive therapeutic pipeline primarily leverages RNA interference (RNAi) technology. Among its advanced clinical programs are: ARO-AAT, a Phase II therapeutic targeting liver diseases associated with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency; ARO-APOC3, which is undergoing both Phase 2b and Phase 3 clinical evaluations for hypertriglyceridemia; ARO-ANG3, currently in Phase 2b development to reduce the production of angiopoietin-like protein 3; and ARO-HIF2, a Phase 1b candidate designed to treat clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Arrowhead also has several compounds in earlier clinical development, including ARO-HSD in Phase 1/2a for other liver diseases, ARO-ENaC in Phase 1/2a, aimed at decreasing the epithelial sodium channel alpha subunit in lung airways, and ARO-C3, also in Phase 1/2a, for complement-mediated diseases. Further expanding its diverse portfolio, the company is actively developing ARO-Lung2 for chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), ARO-DUX4 for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, ARO-XDH for uncontrolled gout, and ARO-COV for COVID-19 and other pulmonary-borne pathogens. Beyond its core internal programs, Arrowhead is involved in the progression of JNJ-3989, a subcutaneously administered RNAi therapeutic for chronic hepatitis B virus infection; Olpasiran, intended to reduce apolipoprotein A production; and ARO-AMG1, which targets genetically validated cardiovascular pathways.
ARWR (Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $12.20B, a beta of 1.29 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 19.42-95.49, average daily share volume of 2.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 1993, approximately 711 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how ARWR stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.29 places ARWR roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a butterfly on ARWR?
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.
ARWR snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $86.83, ATM IV 49.00%, IV rank 7.80%, expected move 14.05%. The butterfly on ARWR 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 35-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on ARWR specifically: ARWR IV at 49.00% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a ARWR butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 14.05% (roughly $12.20 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 ARWR expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ARWR should anchor to the underlying notional of $86.83 per share and to the trader's directional view on ARWR stock.
ARWR butterfly setup
The ARWR 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 ARWR at $86.83 on that close, the first option leg uses a $82.50 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed ARWR 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 ARWR shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $82.50 | $7.40 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $87.50 | $5.05 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $90.00 | $3.95 |
ARWR butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$125.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $352.13
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$125.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $83.75
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 2.817
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.
ARWR butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on ARWR. 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% | -$125.00 |
| $19.21 | -77.9% | -$125.00 |
| $38.40 | -55.8% | -$125.00 |
| $57.60 | -33.7% | -$125.00 |
| $76.80 | -11.6% | -$125.00 |
| $96.00 | +10.6% | +$125.00 |
| $115.19 | +32.7% | +$125.00 |
| $134.39 | +54.8% | +$125.00 |
| $153.59 | +76.9% | +$125.00 |
| $172.79 | +99.0% | +$125.00 |
When traders use butterfly on ARWR
Butterflies on ARWR are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ARWR 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.
ARWR thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ARWR extends from approximately $74.63 on the downside to $99.03 on the upside. A ARWR long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if ARWR settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current ARWR IV rank near 7.80% 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 ARWR at 49.00%. As a Healthcare name, ARWR options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ARWR-specific events.
ARWR 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. ARWR positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move ARWR alongside the broader basket even when ARWR-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current ARWR chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on ARWR?
- A butterfly on ARWR is the butterfly strategy applied to ARWR (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 ARWR stock at $86.83 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ARWR chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are ARWR 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 ARWR butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 49.00%), the computed maximum profit is $352.13 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$125.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a ARWR butterfly?
- The breakeven for the ARWR butterfly priced on this page is roughly $83.75 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 ARWR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 14.05%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on ARWR?
- Butterflies on ARWR are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ARWR 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 ARWR implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- ARWR ATM IV is at 49.00% with IV rank near 7.80%, 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.