How are FCX 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 FCX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 51.23%), the computed maximum profit is $228.26 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$57.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a FCX butterfly?

The breakeven for the FCX butterfly priced on this page is roughly $60.58 and $65.43 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 FCX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 14.69%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current FCX implied volatility affect this butterfly?

FCX ATM IV is at 51.23% with IV rank near 68.59%, 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.

FCX Butterfly Strategy

FCX (Freeport-McMoRan Inc.), in the Basic Materials sector, (Copper industry), listed on NYSE.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. The company primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals, as well as oil and gas. Its assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Tyrone and Chino in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. The company also operates a portfolio of oil and gas properties primarily located in offshore California and the Gulf of Mexico. As of December 31, 2021, it operated approximately 135 wells. The company was formerly known as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and changed its name to Freeport-McMoRan Inc. in July 2014.

FCX (Freeport-McMoRan Inc.) trades in the Basic Materials sector, specifically Copper, with a market capitalization of approximately $96.55B, a trailing P/E of 35.48, a beta of 1.32 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 35.15-70.97, average daily share volume of 17.3M, a public-listing history dating back to 1995, approximately 29K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how FCX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 1.32 indicates FCX has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. The trailing P/E of 35.48 is on the rich side, which tends to correlate with higher earnings-window IV expansion as the market debates whether forward growth supports the multiple. FCX pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on FCX?

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 FCX snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $63.17, ATM IV 51.23%, IV rank 68.59%, expected move 14.69%. The butterfly on FCX 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 28-day expiry.

Why this butterfly structure on FCX specifically: FCX IV at 51.23% 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 14.69% (roughly $9.28 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated FCX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on FCX should anchor to the underlying notional of $63.17 per share and to the trader's directional view on FCX stock.

FCX butterfly setup

The FCX 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 FCX near $63.17, the first option leg uses a $60.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed FCX chain at a 28-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 FCX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$60.00	$5.58
Sell 2	Call	$63.00	$3.85
Buy 1	Call	$66.00	$2.70

FCX butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$57.50
Max Profit (per contract): $228.26
Max Loss (per contract): -$57.50
Breakeven(s): $60.58, $65.43
Risk / Reward Ratio: 3.970

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.

FCX butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on FCX. 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%	-$57.50
$13.98	-77.9%	-$57.50
$27.94	-55.8%	-$57.50
$41.91	-33.7%	-$57.50
$55.87	-11.5%	-$57.50
$69.84	+10.6%	-$57.50
$83.81	+32.7%	-$57.50
$97.77	+54.8%	-$57.50
$111.74	+76.9%	-$57.50
$125.71	+99.0%	-$57.50

When traders use butterfly on FCX

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

FCX thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for FCX extends from approximately $53.89 on the downside to $72.45 on the upside. A FCX long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if FCX settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current FCX IV rank near 68.59% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on FCX should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Basic Materials name, FCX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to FCX-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on FCX?: A butterfly on FCX is the butterfly strategy applied to FCX (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 FCX stock trading near $63.17, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed FCX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are FCX 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 FCX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 51.23%), the computed maximum profit is $228.26 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$57.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a FCX butterfly?: The breakeven for the FCX butterfly priced on this page is roughly $60.58 and $65.43 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 FCX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 14.69%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on FCX?: Butterflies on FCX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect FCX 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 FCX implied volatility affect this butterfly?: FCX ATM IV is at 51.23% with IV rank near 68.59%, 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.