CNR Butterfly Strategy

CNR (Core Natural Resources, Inc.), in the Energy sector, (Coal industry), listed on NYSE.

Core Natural Resources, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells bituminous coal in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Pennsylvania Mining Complex (PAMC) and CONSOL Marine Terminal. The company's PAMC segment engages in the mining, preparing, and marketing of bituminous coal to power generators, industrial end-users, and metallurgical end-users. This segment includes the Bailey Mine, the Enlow Fork Mine, the Harvey Mine, and the central preparation plant. Its CONSOL Marine Terminal segment provides coal export terminal services through the Port of Baltimore. The company also develops and operates the Itmann Mining Complex located in Wyoming County, West Virginia; and Greenfield Reserves and Resources located in the Northern Appalachian, Central Appalachian, and Illinois basins.

CNR (Core Natural Resources, Inc.) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Coal, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.15B, a beta of 0.14 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 64.15-114.8, average daily share volume of 986K, a public-listing history dating back to 2017, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CNR stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.14 indicates CNR has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. CNR pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on CNR?

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 CNR snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $83.28, ATM IV 46.20%, IV rank 19.78%, expected move 13.25%. The butterfly on CNR 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 CNR specifically: CNR IV at 46.20% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a CNR butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 13.25% (roughly $11.03 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 CNR expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CNR should anchor to the underlying notional of $83.28 per share and to the trader's directional view on CNR stock.

CNR butterfly setup

The CNR 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 CNR near $83.28, the first option leg uses a $80.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CNR 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 CNR shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

ActionTypeStrike / BasisPremium (est)
Buy 1Call$80.00$6.75
Sell 2Call$85.00$4.15
Buy 1Call$85.00$4.15

CNR butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit
-$260.00
Max Profit (per contract)
$240.00
Max Loss (per contract)
-$260.00
Breakeven(s)
$82.60
Risk / Reward Ratio
0.923

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.

CNR butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on CNR. 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 SpotP&L at Expiration
$0.01-100.0%-$260.00
$18.42-77.9%-$260.00
$36.84-55.8%-$260.00
$55.25-33.7%-$260.00
$73.66-11.6%-$260.00
$92.07+10.6%+$240.00
$110.49+32.7%+$240.00
$128.90+54.8%+$240.00
$147.31+76.9%+$240.00
$165.72+99.0%+$240.00

When traders use butterfly on CNR

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

CNR thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CNR extends from approximately $72.25 on the downside to $94.31 on the upside. A CNR long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if CNR settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current CNR IV rank near 19.78% 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 CNR at 46.20%. As a Energy name, CNR options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CNR-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on CNR?
A butterfly on CNR is the butterfly strategy applied to CNR (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 CNR stock trading near $83.28, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CNR chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are CNR 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 CNR butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 46.20%), the computed maximum profit is $240.00 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$260.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a CNR butterfly?
The breakeven for the CNR butterfly priced on this page is roughly $82.60 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 CNR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 13.25%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on CNR?
Butterflies on CNR are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CNR 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 CNR implied volatility affect this butterfly?
CNR ATM IV is at 46.20% with IV rank near 19.78%, 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.

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