DCI Butterfly Strategy
DCI (Donaldson Company, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Industrial - Machinery industry), listed on NYSE.
Donaldson Company, Inc. (DCI) is a global enterprise that develops, manufactures, and distributes an extensive range of filtration systems and their corresponding replacement parts. The company's operations are strategically divided into two core business units: Engine Products and Industrial Products. The Engine Products division provides a variety of solutions, including replacement filters for both air and liquid filtration needs, comprehensive air filtration systems, and specialized liquid filtration systems designed for fuel, lubrication, and hydraulic applications. This segment also offers exhaust and emissions control technologies, alongside a suite of sensors, indicators, and monitoring systems. Its clientele primarily consists of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) within the construction, mining, agriculture, aerospace, defense, and transportation industries. Additionally, it caters to the aftermarket through independent distributors, OEM dealership networks, private label accounts, and major fleet operators.
DCI (Donaldson Company, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Industrial - Machinery, with a market capitalization of approximately $11.12B, a trailing P/E of 25.34, a beta of 0.93 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 72.95-112.84, average daily share volume of 714K, a public-listing history dating back to 1980, approximately 15K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how DCI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.93 places DCI roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. DCI pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on DCI?
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.
DCI snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $95.72, ATM IV 34.80%, IV rank 5.57%, expected move 9.98%. The butterfly on DCI 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 DCI specifically: DCI IV at 34.80% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a DCI butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.98% (roughly $9.55 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 DCI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on DCI should anchor to the underlying notional of $95.72 per share and to the trader's directional view on DCI stock.
DCI butterfly setup
The DCI 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 DCI at $95.72 on that close, the first option leg uses a $90.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed DCI 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 DCI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $90.00 | $5.20 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $95.00 | $1.18 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $100.00 | $0.02 |
DCI butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$287.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $188.60
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$287.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $92.87, $97.13
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.657
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.
DCI butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on DCI. 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% | -$287.00 |
| $21.17 | -77.9% | -$287.00 |
| $42.34 | -55.8% | -$287.00 |
| $63.50 | -33.7% | -$287.00 |
| $84.66 | -11.6% | -$287.00 |
| $105.83 | +10.6% | -$287.00 |
| $126.99 | +32.7% | -$287.00 |
| $148.15 | +54.8% | -$287.00 |
| $169.31 | +76.9% | -$287.00 |
| $190.48 | +99.0% | -$287.00 |
When traders use butterfly on DCI
Butterflies on DCI are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect DCI 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.
DCI thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for DCI extends from approximately $86.17 on the downside to $105.27 on the upside. A DCI long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if DCI settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current DCI IV rank near 5.57% 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 DCI at 34.80%. As a Industrials name, DCI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to DCI-specific events.
DCI 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. DCI positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move DCI alongside the broader basket even when DCI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current DCI chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on DCI?
- A butterfly on DCI is the butterfly strategy applied to DCI (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 DCI stock at $95.72 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed DCI chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are DCI 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 DCI butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 34.80%), the computed maximum profit is $188.60 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$287.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a DCI butterfly?
- The breakeven for the DCI butterfly priced on this page is roughly $92.87 and $97.13 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 DCI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 9.98%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on DCI?
- Butterflies on DCI are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect DCI 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 DCI implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- DCI ATM IV is at 34.80% with IV rank near 5.57%, 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.