CRNX Butterfly Strategy

CRNX (Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. operates as a clinical-stage pharmaceutical enterprise, dedicated to the identification, advancement, and market introduction of therapeutic solutions for infrequent endocrine conditions and related tumors. Their flagship drug candidate, Paltusotine, is an orally administered, selective, non-peptide somatostatin receptor type 2 agonist. This compound has concluded its Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of acromegaly, and has also completed Phase II trials targeting carcinoid syndrome and nonfunctional neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Furthermore, the company's pipeline includes CRN04777, an oral selective non-peptide somatostatin type 5 receptor agonist, which is currently undergoing Phase I clinical trials for congenital hyperinsulinism. Another investigational drug, CRN04894, an oral adrenocorticotrophic hormone antagonist, is in Phase I clinical trials for Cushing's disease and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 2008 and maintains its headquarters in San Diego, California.

CRNX (Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $3.87B, a beta of 0.24 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 25.83-57.99, average daily share volume of 1.2M, a public-listing history dating back to 2018, approximately 437 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CRNX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.24 indicates CRNX has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.

What is a butterfly on CRNX?

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 CRNX snapshot

As of June 29, 2026, spot at $36.77, ATM IV 57.80%, IV rank 7.30%, expected move 16.57%. The butterfly on CRNX 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 18-day expiry.

Why this butterfly structure on CRNX specifically: CRNX IV at 57.80% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a CRNX butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 16.57% (roughly $6.09 on the underlying). The 18-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated CRNX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CRNX should anchor to the underlying notional of $36.77 per share and to the trader's directional view on CRNX stock.

CRNX butterfly setup

The CRNX 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 CRNX near $36.77, the first option leg uses a $35.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CRNX chain at a 18-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 CRNX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

ActionTypeStrike / BasisPremium (est)
Buy 1Call$35.00$2.75
Sell 2Call$37.00$1.68
Buy 1Call$39.00$0.93

CRNX butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit
-$32.50
Max Profit (per contract)
$163.47
Max Loss (per contract)
-$32.50
Breakeven(s)
$35.33, $38.68
Risk / Reward Ratio
5.030

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.

CRNX butterfly payoff curve

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

CRNX butterfly profit and loss curve at expiration with breakevens and current spot markedCRNX butterfly payoff at expiration$0$50$100$150$10$20$30$40$50$60$70Underlying Price ($)P&L at Expiration ($)BE $35.33BE $38.67Spot $36.77
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 SpotP&L at Expiration
$0.01-100.0%-$32.50
$8.14-77.9%-$32.50
$16.27-55.8%-$32.50
$24.40-33.7%-$32.50
$32.53-11.5%-$32.50
$40.65+10.6%-$32.50
$48.78+32.7%-$32.50
$56.91+54.8%-$32.50
$65.04+76.9%-$32.50
$73.17+99.0%-$32.50

When traders use butterfly on CRNX

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

CRNX thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CRNX extends from approximately $30.68 on the downside to $42.86 on the upside. A CRNX long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if CRNX settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current CRNX IV rank near 7.30% 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 CRNX at 57.80%. As a Healthcare name, CRNX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CRNX-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on CRNX?
A butterfly on CRNX is the butterfly strategy applied to CRNX (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 CRNX stock trading near $36.77, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CRNX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are CRNX 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 CRNX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 57.80%), the computed maximum profit is $163.47 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$32.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a CRNX butterfly?
The breakeven for the CRNX butterfly priced on this page is roughly $35.33 and $38.68 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 CRNX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 16.57%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on CRNX?
Butterflies on CRNX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CRNX 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 CRNX implied volatility affect this butterfly?
CRNX ATM IV is at 57.80% with IV rank near 7.30%, 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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