How are CRC 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 CRC butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 39.20%), the computed maximum profit is $198.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$290.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a CRC butterfly?

The breakeven for the CRC butterfly priced on this page is roughly $57.90 and $62.10 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 CRC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 11.24%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current CRC implied volatility affect this butterfly?

CRC ATM IV is at 39.20% with IV rank near 35.95%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.

CRC Butterfly Strategy

CRC (California Resources Corporation), in the Energy sector, (Oil & Gas Exploration & Production industry), listed on NYSE.

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas company. The company explores for, produces, gathers, processes, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities. As of December 31, 2021, it had interests in approximately 1.9 million net mineral acres with proved reserves totaled an estimated 480 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company also engages in the generation and sale of electricity to the local utility and the grid. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Santa Clarita, California.

CRC (California Resources Corporation) trades in the Energy sector, specifically Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.27B, a beta of 0.96 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 41.13-71.98, average daily share volume of 1.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 2020, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CRC stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.96 places CRC roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. CRC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on CRC?

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 CRC snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $61.03, ATM IV 39.20%, IV rank 35.95%, expected move 11.24%. The butterfly on CRC 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 CRC specifically: CRC IV at 39.20% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 11.24% (roughly $6.86 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 CRC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CRC should anchor to the underlying notional of $61.03 per share and to the trader's directional view on CRC stock.

CRC butterfly setup

The CRC 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 CRC near $61.03, the first option leg uses a $57.50 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CRC 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 CRC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$57.50	$5.85
Sell 2	Call	$60.00	$3.90
Buy 1	Call	$65.00	$2.35

CRC butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$40.00
Max Profit (per contract): $198.50
Max Loss (per contract): -$290.00
Breakeven(s): $57.90, $62.10
Risk / Reward Ratio: 0.684

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.

CRC butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on CRC. 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%	-$40.00
$13.50	-77.9%	-$40.00
$27.00	-55.8%	-$40.00
$40.49	-33.7%	-$40.00
$53.98	-11.5%	-$40.00
$67.47	+10.6%	-$290.00
$80.97	+32.7%	-$290.00
$94.46	+54.8%	-$290.00
$107.95	+76.9%	-$290.00
$121.45	+99.0%	-$290.00

When traders use butterfly on CRC

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

CRC thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CRC extends from approximately $54.17 on the downside to $67.89 on the upside. A CRC long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if CRC settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current CRC IV rank near 35.95% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on CRC should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Energy name, CRC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CRC-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on CRC?: A butterfly on CRC is the butterfly strategy applied to CRC (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 CRC stock trading near $61.03, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CRC chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are CRC 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 CRC butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 39.20%), the computed maximum profit is $198.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$290.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a CRC butterfly?: The breakeven for the CRC butterfly priced on this page is roughly $57.90 and $62.10 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 CRC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 11.24%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on CRC?: Butterflies on CRC are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CRC 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 CRC implied volatility affect this butterfly?: CRC ATM IV is at 39.20% with IV rank near 35.95%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.