ES Butterfly Strategy
ES (Eversource Energy), in the Utilities sector, (Regulated Electric industry), listed on NYSE.
Eversource Energy, a public utility holding company, engages in the energy delivery business. The company operates through Electric Distribution, Electric Transmission, Natural Gas Distribution, and Water Distribution segments. It is involved in the transmission and distribution of electricity; solar power facilities; and distribution of natural gas. The company operates regulated water utilities that provide water services to approximately 226,000 customers. It serves residential, commercial, industrial, municipal and fire protection, and other customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. The company was formerly known as Northeast Utilities and changed its name to Eversource Energy in April 2015.
ES (Eversource Energy) trades in the Utilities sector, specifically Regulated Electric, with a market capitalization of approximately $25.67B, a trailing P/E of 14.68, a beta of 0.75 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 60.75-76.41, average daily share volume of 2.5M, a public-listing history dating back to 1973, approximately 10K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how ES stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.75 places ES roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. ES pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on ES?
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 ES snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $67.28, ATM IV 19.60%, IV rank 1.87%, expected move 5.62%. The butterfly on ES 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 ES specifically: ES IV at 19.60% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a ES butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.62% (roughly $3.78 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 ES expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on ES should anchor to the underlying notional of $67.28 per share and to the trader's directional view on ES stock.
ES butterfly setup
The ES 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 ES near $67.28, the first option leg uses a $63.92 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed ES 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 ES shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $63.92 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $67.28 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $70.64 | N/A |
ES butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
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.
ES butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on ES. 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.
When traders use butterfly on ES
Butterflies on ES are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ES 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.
ES thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for ES extends from approximately $63.50 on the downside to $71.06 on the upside. A ES long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if ES settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current ES IV rank near 1.87% 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 ES at 19.60%. As a Utilities name, ES options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to ES-specific events.
ES 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. ES positions also carry Utilities sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move ES alongside the broader basket even when ES-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current ES chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on ES?
- A butterfly on ES is the butterfly strategy applied to ES (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 ES stock trading near $67.28, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed ES chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are ES 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 ES butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 19.60%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a ES butterfly?
- The breakeven for the ES butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 ES market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 5.62%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on ES?
- Butterflies on ES are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect ES 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 ES implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- ES ATM IV is at 19.60% with IV rank near 1.87%, 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.