How are CXW 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 CXW butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 39.90%), the computed maximum profit is $70.92 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$25.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a CXW butterfly?

The breakeven for the CXW butterfly priced on this page is roughly $20.25 and $21.75 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 CXW market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 11.44%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current CXW implied volatility affect this butterfly?

CXW ATM IV is at 39.90% with IV rank near 18.35%, 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.

CXW Butterfly Strategy

CXW (CoreCivic, Inc.), in the Real Estate sector, (REIT - Specialty industry), listed on NYSE.

CoreCivic, Inc. owns and operates partnership correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: CoreCivic Safety, CoreCivic Community, and CoreCivic Properties. The company provides a range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through corrections and detention management, a network of residential reentry centers to help address America's recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions. Its correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities offer rehabilitation and educational programs, including basic education, faith-based services, life skills and employment training, and substance abuse treatment. As of December 31, 2021, the company owned and operated 46 correctional and detention facilities, 26 residential reentry centers, and 10 properties for lease. The company was founded in 1983 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.

CXW (CoreCivic, Inc.) trades in the Real Estate sector, specifically REIT - Specialty, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.04B, a trailing P/E of 16.44, a beta of 0.68 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 15.74-23.2, average daily share volume of 1.2M, a public-listing history dating back to 1997, approximately 12K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how CXW stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.68 indicates CXW 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 CXW?

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 CXW snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $21.06, ATM IV 39.90%, IV rank 18.35%, expected move 11.44%. The butterfly on CXW 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 CXW specifically: CXW IV at 39.90% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a CXW butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 11.44% (roughly $2.41 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 CXW expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on CXW should anchor to the underlying notional of $21.06 per share and to the trader's directional view on CXW stock.

CXW butterfly setup

The CXW 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 CXW near $21.06, the first option leg uses a $20.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed CXW 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 CXW shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$20.00	$1.63
Sell 2	Call	$21.00	$1.03
Buy 1	Call	$22.00	$0.68

CXW butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$25.00
Max Profit (per contract): $70.92
Max Loss (per contract): -$25.00
Breakeven(s): $20.25, $21.75
Risk / Reward Ratio: 2.837

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.

CXW butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on CXW. 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%	-$25.00
$4.67	-77.8%	-$25.00
$9.32	-55.7%	-$25.00
$13.98	-33.6%	-$25.00
$18.63	-11.5%	-$25.00
$23.29	+10.6%	-$25.00
$27.94	+32.7%	-$25.00
$32.60	+54.8%	-$25.00
$37.25	+76.9%	-$25.00
$41.91	+99.0%	-$25.00

When traders use butterfly on CXW

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

CXW thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for CXW extends from approximately $18.65 on the downside to $23.47 on the upside. A CXW long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if CXW settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current CXW IV rank near 18.35% 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 CXW at 39.90%. As a Real Estate name, CXW options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to CXW-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on CXW?: A butterfly on CXW is the butterfly strategy applied to CXW (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 CXW stock trading near $21.06, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed CXW chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are CXW 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 CXW butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 39.90%), the computed maximum profit is $70.92 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$25.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a CXW butterfly?: The breakeven for the CXW butterfly priced on this page is roughly $20.25 and $21.75 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 CXW market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 11.44%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on CXW?: Butterflies on CXW are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect CXW 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 CXW implied volatility affect this butterfly?: CXW ATM IV is at 39.90% with IV rank near 18.35%, 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.