GTN Butterfly Strategy
GTN (Gray Media, Inc.), in the Communication Services sector, (Broadcasting industry), listed on NYSE.
Gray Media, Inc. is a leading television broadcasting entity that manages an extensive portfolio of TV stations and digital assets throughout the United States, reaching 113 distinct television markets. In addition to its primary channels, the company transmits a diverse range of secondary digital networks, including affiliations with major broadcasters like ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX. Its specialized digital offerings also encompass networks such as CW Plus, MY Network, MeTV, Justice, This TV, Antenna TV, Telemundo, Cozi, Heroes and Icons, and MOVIES! Network. The company further provides localized news and weather channels and offers video program production services. Founded in 1891, Gray Media, Inc. is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and was formerly known as Gray Communications Systems, Inc. before being rebranded as Gray Television, Inc. in August 2002.
GTN (Gray Media, Inc.) trades in the Communication Services sector, specifically Broadcasting, with a market capitalization of approximately $472.7M, a beta of 0.96 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 3.55-6.44, average daily share volume of 1.3M, a public-listing history dating back to 2002, approximately 9K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how GTN stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.96 places GTN roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. GTN pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on GTN?
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.
GTN snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $5.20, ATM IV 52.70%, IV rank 10.89%, expected move 15.11%. The butterfly on GTN below is built from the end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on GTN specifically: GTN IV at 52.70% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a GTN butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 15.11% (roughly $0.79 on the underlying). The 35-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated GTN expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on GTN should anchor to the underlying notional of $5.20 per share and to the trader's directional view on GTN stock.
GTN butterfly setup
The GTN 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 GTN at $5.20 on that close, the first option leg uses a $4.94 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed GTN chain at a 35-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 GTN shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $4.94 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $5.20 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $5.46 | N/A |
GTN 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.
GTN butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on GTN. 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 GTN
Butterflies on GTN are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect GTN 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.
GTN thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for GTN extends from approximately $4.41 on the downside to $5.99 on the upside. A GTN long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if GTN settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current GTN IV rank near 10.89% 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 GTN at 52.70%. As a Communication Services name, GTN options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to GTN-specific events.
GTN 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. GTN positions also carry Communication Services sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move GTN alongside the broader basket even when GTN-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current GTN chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on GTN?
- A butterfly on GTN is the butterfly strategy applied to GTN (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 GTN stock at $5.20 on the most recent close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed GTN chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are GTN 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 GTN butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 52.70%), 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 GTN butterfly?
- The breakeven for the GTN butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve at expiration, derived from the 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 GTN market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 15.11%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on GTN?
- Butterflies on GTN are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect GTN 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 GTN implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- GTN ATM IV is at 52.70% with IV rank near 10.89%, 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.