COHU Butterfly Strategy
COHU (Cohu, Inc.), in the Technology sector, (Semiconductors industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Cohu, Inc. stands as a prominent global provider of advanced semiconductor test equipment and comprehensive associated services. Operating through its various subsidiaries, the company extends its reach across key international markets including China, the United States, Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Its diverse product portfolio caters to semiconductor and electronics manufacturers, as well as test subcontractors, encompassing crucial equipment such as automated test equipment (ATE) for both wafer-level and device package testing, and a wide array of test and inspection handlers. These handlers include specialized pick-and-place, turret, gravity, strip, and advanced micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) and thermal sub-systems. Cohu also offers vital interface components like test contactors, probe heads, and pins. Beyond hardware, Cohu delivers extensive post-sales support, including spare parts and kits, robust parts and labor warranties for its systems and instruments, and essential training for system maintenance and operation.
COHU (Cohu, Inc.) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Semiconductors, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.65B, a beta of 1.59 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 18.67-74.6, average daily share volume of 1.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 1980, approximately 3K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how COHU stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.59 indicates COHU has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. COHU pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on COHU?
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.
COHU snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $59.01, ATM IV 74.70%, IV rank 13.17%, expected move 21.42%. The butterfly on COHU 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 7-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on COHU specifically: COHU IV at 74.70% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a COHU butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 21.42% (roughly $12.64 on the underlying). The 7-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated COHU expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on COHU should anchor to the underlying notional of $59.01 per share and to the trader's directional view on COHU stock.
COHU butterfly setup
The COHU 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 COHU at $59.01 on that close, the first option leg uses a $55.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed COHU chain at a 7-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 COHU shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $55.00 | $4.70 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $60.00 | $1.68 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $60.00 | $1.68 |
COHU butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$302.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $197.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$302.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $58.03
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.653
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.
COHU butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on COHU. 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% | -$302.50 |
| $13.06 | -77.9% | -$302.50 |
| $26.10 | -55.8% | -$302.50 |
| $39.15 | -33.7% | -$302.50 |
| $52.20 | -11.5% | -$302.50 |
| $65.24 | +10.6% | +$197.50 |
| $78.29 | +32.7% | +$197.50 |
| $91.33 | +54.8% | +$197.50 |
| $104.38 | +76.9% | +$197.50 |
| $117.43 | +99.0% | +$197.50 |
When traders use butterfly on COHU
Butterflies on COHU are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect COHU 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.
COHU thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for COHU extends from approximately $46.37 on the downside to $71.65 on the upside. A COHU long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if COHU settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current COHU IV rank near 13.17% 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 COHU at 74.70%. As a Technology name, COHU options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to COHU-specific events.
COHU 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. COHU positions also carry Technology sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move COHU alongside the broader basket even when COHU-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current COHU chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on COHU?
- A butterfly on COHU is the butterfly strategy applied to COHU (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 COHU stock at $59.01 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed COHU chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are COHU 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 COHU butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 74.70%), the computed maximum profit is $197.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$302.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a COHU butterfly?
- The breakeven for the COHU butterfly priced on this page is roughly $58.03 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 COHU market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 21.42%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on COHU?
- Butterflies on COHU are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect COHU 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 COHU implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- COHU ATM IV is at 74.70% with IV rank near 13.17%, 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.