How are CNP 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 CNP butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 19.20%), the computed maximum profit is $99.49 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$97.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a CNP butterfly?

The breakeven for the CNP butterfly priced on this page is roughly $39.98 and $42.03 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 CNP market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 5.50%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current CNP implied volatility affect this butterfly?

CNP ATM IV is at 19.20% with IV rank near 2.65%, 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.

CNP Butterfly Strategy

CNP (CenterPoint Energy, Inc.), in the Utilities sector, (Regulated Electric industry), listed on NYSE.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. operates as a public utility holding enterprise across the United States, primarily through its Electric and Natural Gas divisions. The Electric segment manages power generation assets, alongside the transmission and distribution networks that supply electricity to consumers, and actively participates in the wholesale power market. Its Natural Gas segment delivers natural gas distribution services, provides home appliance maintenance and repair in Minnesota, and extends home repair protection plans to natural gas customers in Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana through a third-party partner. This segment is also engaged in the sale of regulated intrastate natural gas, as well as its transportation and storage for residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation clients. As of December 31, 2021, CenterPoint Energy served approximately 2.7 million metered customers. Its substantial infrastructure included 239 substation sites with a total installed transformer capacity of 71,241 megavolt amperes, roughly 100,000 linear miles of natural gas distribution and transmission mains, and 285 miles of intrastate pipelines across Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma.

CNP (CenterPoint Energy, Inc.) trades in the Utilities sector, specifically Regulated Electric, with a market capitalization of approximately $26.70B, a trailing P/E of 23.84, a beta of 0.46 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 36.6-45.26, average daily share volume of 5.9M, a public-listing history dating back to 1970, approximately 9K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CNP stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.46 indicates CNP has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. CNP pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on CNP?

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.

CNP snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $40.82, ATM IV 19.20%, IV rank 2.65%, expected move 5.50%. The butterfly on CNP 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 CNP specifically: CNP IV at 19.20% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a CNP butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.50% (roughly $2.25 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 CNP expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CNP should anchor to the underlying notional of $40.82 per share and to the trader's directional view on CNP stock.

CNP butterfly setup

The CNP 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 CNP at $40.82 on that close, the first option leg uses a $39.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CNP 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 CNP shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$39.00	$2.20
Sell 2	Call	$41.00	$0.73
Buy 1	Call	$43.00	$0.23

CNP butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$97.50
Max Profit (per contract): $99.49
Max Loss (per contract): -$97.50
Breakeven(s): $39.98, $42.03
Risk / Reward Ratio: 1.020

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.

CNP butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on CNP. 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.

P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.

Underlying Price	% From Spot	P&L at Expiration
$0.01	-100.0%	-$97.50
$9.03	-77.9%	-$97.50
$18.06	-55.8%	-$97.50
$27.08	-33.7%	-$97.50
$36.11	-11.5%	-$97.50
$45.13	+10.6%	-$97.50
$54.16	+32.7%	-$97.50
$63.18	+54.8%	-$97.50
$72.21	+76.9%	-$97.50
$81.23	+99.0%	-$97.50

When traders use butterfly on CNP

Butterflies on CNP are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CNP 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.

CNP thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CNP extends from approximately $38.57 on the downside to $43.07 on the upside. A CNP long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if CNP settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current CNP IV rank near 2.65% 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 CNP at 19.20%. As a Utilities name, CNP options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CNP-specific events.

CNP 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. CNP positions also carry Utilities sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move CNP alongside the broader basket even when CNP-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current CNP chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on CNP?: A butterfly on CNP is the butterfly strategy applied to CNP (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 CNP stock at $40.82 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CNP chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
How are CNP 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 CNP butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 19.20%), the computed maximum profit is $99.49 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$97.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a CNP butterfly?: The breakeven for the CNP butterfly priced on this page is roughly $39.98 and $42.03 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 CNP market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 5.50%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on CNP?: Butterflies on CNP are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CNP 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 CNP implied volatility affect this butterfly?: CNP ATM IV is at 19.20% with IV rank near 2.65%, 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.