CBL Butterfly Strategy
CBL (CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.), in the Real Estate sector, (REIT - Retail industry), listed on NYSE.
Headquartered in Chattanooga, TN, CBL Properties owns and manages a national portfolio of market-dominant properties located in dynamic and growing communities. CBL's portfolio is comprised of 106 properties totaling 65.7 million square feet across 25 states, including 64 high quality enclosed, outlet and open-air retail centers and 8 properties managed for third parties. CBL seeks to continuously strengthen its company and portfolio through active management, aggressive leasing and profitable reinvestment in its properties.
CBL (CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.) trades in the Real Estate sector, specifically REIT - Retail, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.42B, a trailing P/E of 7.96, a beta of 1.46 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 24.03-48.64, average daily share volume of 183K, a public-listing history dating back to 2021, approximately 390 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CBL stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.46 indicates CBL has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. The trailing P/E of 7.96 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price. CBL pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on CBL?
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 CBL snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $46.61, ATM IV 30.50%, IV rank 20.81%, expected move 8.74%. The butterfly on CBL 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 63-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on CBL specifically: CBL IV at 30.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a CBL butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 8.74% (roughly $4.08 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 CBL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CBL should anchor to the underlying notional of $46.61 per share and to the trader's directional view on CBL stock.
CBL butterfly setup
The CBL 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 CBL near $46.61, the first option leg uses a $43.83 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CBL 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 CBL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $43.83 | $3.40 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $46.83 | $1.55 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $48.83 | $0.89 |
CBL butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$119.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $179.08
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$119.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $45.02, $48.64
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.505
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.
CBL butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on CBL. 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% | -$119.00 |
| $10.31 | -77.9% | -$119.00 |
| $20.62 | -55.8% | -$119.00 |
| $30.92 | -33.7% | -$119.00 |
| $41.23 | -11.5% | -$119.00 |
| $51.53 | +10.6% | -$19.00 |
| $61.84 | +32.7% | -$19.00 |
| $72.14 | +54.8% | -$19.00 |
| $82.45 | +76.9% | -$19.00 |
| $92.75 | +99.0% | -$19.00 |
When traders use butterfly on CBL
Butterflies on CBL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CBL 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.
CBL thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CBL extends from approximately $42.53 on the downside to $50.69 on the upside. A CBL long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if CBL settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current CBL IV rank near 20.81% 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 CBL at 30.50%. As a Real Estate name, CBL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CBL-specific events.
CBL 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. CBL positions also carry Real Estate sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CBL alongside the broader basket even when CBL-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current CBL chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on CBL?
- A butterfly on CBL is the butterfly strategy applied to CBL (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 CBL stock trading near $46.61, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CBL chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are CBL 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 CBL butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 30.50%), the computed maximum profit is $179.08 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$119.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a CBL butterfly?
- The breakeven for the CBL butterfly priced on this page is roughly $45.02 and $48.64 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 CBL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 8.74%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on CBL?
- Butterflies on CBL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CBL 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 CBL implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- CBL ATM IV is at 30.50% with IV rank near 20.81%, 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.