AURA Butterfly Strategy
AURA (Aura Biosciences, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Aura Biosciences, Inc. is a biotechnology firm established in 2009 that specializes in pioneering cancer treatments. The company leverages its proprietary virus-like drug conjugate (VDC) technology platform to address tumors with significant unmet medical needs, specifically in ocular (eye) and urologic oncology. Its flagship therapeutic candidate, AU-011, is a VDC currently in development for the treatment of primary choroidal melanoma. Furthermore, Aura Biosciences is investigating AU-011's potential for other ocular oncology applications, such as choroidal metastases.
AURA (Aura Biosciences, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $801.6M, a beta of 0.40 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 4.73-9.535, average daily share volume of 562K, a public-listing history dating back to 2021, approximately 113 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how AURA stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.40 indicates AURA has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.
What is a butterfly on AURA?
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.
AURA snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $7.73, ATM IV 282.30%, IV rank 56.02%, expected move 80.93%. The butterfly on AURA 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 AURA specifically: AURA IV at 282.30% 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 80.93% (roughly $6.26 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 AURA expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on AURA should anchor to the underlying notional of $7.73 per share and to the trader's directional view on AURA stock.
AURA butterfly setup
The AURA 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 AURA at $7.73 on that close, the first option leg uses a $7.34 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed AURA 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 AURA shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $7.34 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $7.73 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $8.12 | N/A |
AURA 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.
AURA butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on AURA. 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 AURA
Butterflies on AURA are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect AURA 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.
AURA thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for AURA extends from approximately $1.47 on the downside to $13.99 on the upside. A AURA long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if AURA settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current AURA IV rank near 56.02% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on AURA should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, AURA options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to AURA-specific events.
AURA 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. AURA positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move AURA alongside the broader basket even when AURA-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current AURA chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on AURA?
- A butterfly on AURA is the butterfly strategy applied to AURA (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 AURA stock at $7.73 on the most recent close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed AURA chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are AURA 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 AURA butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 282.30%), 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 AURA butterfly?
- The breakeven for the AURA 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 AURA market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 80.93%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on AURA?
- Butterflies on AURA are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect AURA 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 AURA implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- AURA ATM IV is at 282.30% with IV rank near 56.02%, 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.