How are EXEL 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 EXEL butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 37.20%), the computed maximum profit is $223.29 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$270.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a EXEL butterfly?

The breakeven for the EXEL butterfly priced on this page is roughly $52.30 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 EXEL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 10.66%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current EXEL implied volatility affect this butterfly?

EXEL ATM IV is at 37.20% with IV rank near 40.53%, 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.

EXEL Butterfly Strategy

EXEL (Exelixis, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.

Exelixis, Inc., an oncology-focused biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of new medicines to treat cancers in the United States. The company's products include CABOMETYX tablets for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who received prior anti-angiogenic therapy; and COMETRIQ capsules for the treatment of patients with progressive and metastatic medullary thyroid cancer. Its CABOMETYX and COMETRIQ are derived from cabozantinib, an inhibitor of multiple tyrosine kinases, including MET, AXL, RET, and VEGF receptors. The company also offers COTELLIC, an inhibitor of MEK as a combination regimen to treat advanced melanoma; and MINNEBRO, an oral non-steroidal selective blocker of the mineralocorticoid receptor for the treatment of hypertension in Japan. In addition, it is developing XL092, an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor that targets VEGF receptors, MET, AXL, MER, and other kinases implicated in growth and spread of cancer; XB002, an antibody-drug conjugate composed of human mAb against tissue factor (TF) for the treatment of advanced solid tumors; XL102, an orally bioavailable cyclin-dependent kinase 7 (CDK7) inhibitor for the treatment of advanced or metastatic solid tumors; and XB002 for the treatment of non-hodgkin's lymphoma. Exelixis, Inc. has research collaborations and license agreements with Ipsen Pharma SAS; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.; F.

EXEL (Exelixis, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $12.89B, a trailing P/E of 15.90, a beta of 0.39 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 33.76-51.48, average daily share volume of 2.8M, a public-listing history dating back to 2000, approximately 1K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how EXEL stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.39 indicates EXEL 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 EXEL?

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 EXEL snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $50.18, ATM IV 37.20%, IV rank 40.53%, expected move 10.66%. The butterfly on EXEL 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 98-day expiry.

Why this butterfly structure on EXEL specifically: EXEL IV at 37.20% 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 10.66% (roughly $5.35 on the underlying). The 98-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated EXEL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on EXEL should anchor to the underlying notional of $50.18 per share and to the trader's directional view on EXEL stock.

EXEL butterfly setup

The EXEL 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 EXEL near $50.18, the first option leg uses a $48.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed EXEL chain at a 98-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 EXEL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$48.00	$5.65
Sell 2	Call	$50.00	$4.05
Buy 1	Call	$55.00	$2.15

EXEL butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: +$30.00
Max Profit (per contract): $223.29
Max Loss (per contract): -$270.00
Breakeven(s): $52.30
Risk / Reward Ratio: 0.827

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.

EXEL butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on EXEL. 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%	+$30.00
$11.10	-77.9%	+$30.00
$22.20	-55.8%	+$30.00
$33.29	-33.7%	+$30.00
$44.39	-11.5%	+$30.00
$55.48	+10.6%	-$270.00
$66.57	+32.7%	-$270.00
$77.67	+54.8%	-$270.00
$88.76	+76.9%	-$270.00
$99.86	+99.0%	-$270.00

When traders use butterfly on EXEL

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

EXEL thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for EXEL extends from approximately $44.83 on the downside to $55.53 on the upside. A EXEL long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if EXEL settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current EXEL IV rank near 40.53% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on EXEL should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, EXEL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to EXEL-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on EXEL?: A butterfly on EXEL is the butterfly strategy applied to EXEL (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 EXEL stock trading near $50.18, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed EXEL chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are EXEL 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 EXEL butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 37.20%), the computed maximum profit is $223.29 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$270.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a EXEL butterfly?: The breakeven for the EXEL butterfly priced on this page is roughly $52.30 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 EXEL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 10.66%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on EXEL?: Butterflies on EXEL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect EXEL 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 EXEL implied volatility affect this butterfly?: EXEL ATM IV is at 37.20% with IV rank near 40.53%, 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.