CADL Butterfly Strategy
CADL (Candel Therapeutics, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Candel Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development immunotherapies for the cancer patients. The company develops CAN-2409, which is in Phase II clinical trails for the treatment of pancreatic cancer; Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of prostate cancer; and Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of lung cancer, as well as has completed Phase Ib/II clinical trials for the treatment of high-grade glioma. It also develops CAN-3110, which is in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma. The company was formerly known as Advantagene, Inc. and changed its name to Candel Therapeutics, Inc. in November 2020. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is based in Needham, Massachusetts.
CADL (Candel Therapeutics, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $490.8M, a beta of -0.59 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 4.35-9.255, average daily share volume of 1.7M, a public-listing history dating back to 2021, approximately 38 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CADL stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -0.59 indicates CADL 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 CADL?
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 CADL snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $8.79, ATM IV 133.10%, IV rank 21.75%, expected move 38.16%. The butterfly on CADL 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 34-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on CADL specifically: CADL IV at 133.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a CADL butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 38.16% (roughly $3.35 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated CADL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CADL should anchor to the underlying notional of $8.79 per share and to the trader's directional view on CADL stock.
CADL butterfly setup
The CADL 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 CADL near $8.79, the first option leg uses a $8.35 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CADL chain at a 34-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 CADL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $8.35 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $8.79 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $9.23 | N/A |
CADL 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.
CADL butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on CADL. 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 CADL
Butterflies on CADL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CADL 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.
CADL thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CADL extends from approximately $5.44 on the downside to $12.14 on the upside. A CADL long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if CADL settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current CADL IV rank near 21.75% 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 CADL at 133.10%. As a Healthcare name, CADL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CADL-specific events.
CADL 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. CADL positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CADL alongside the broader basket even when CADL-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current CADL chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on CADL?
- A butterfly on CADL is the butterfly strategy applied to CADL (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 CADL stock trading near $8.79, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CADL chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CADL 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 CADL butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 133.10%), 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 CADL butterfly?
- The breakeven for the CADL butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 CADL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 38.16%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on CADL?
- Butterflies on CADL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CADL 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 CADL implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- CADL ATM IV is at 133.10% with IV rank near 21.75%, 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.