How are HCA 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 HCA butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 28.80%), the computed maximum profit is $1,533.02 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 HCA butterfly?

The breakeven for the HCA butterfly priced on this page is roughly $407.70 and $442.30 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 HCA market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 8.26%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current HCA implied volatility affect this butterfly?

HCA ATM IV is at 28.80% with IV rank near 35.10%, 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.

HCA Butterfly Strategy

HCA (HCA Healthcare, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Care Facilities industry), listed on NYSE.

HCA Healthcare, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides health care services company in the United States. The company operates general and acute care hospitals that offers medical and surgical services, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, diagnostic, and emergency services; and outpatient services, such as outpatient surgery, laboratory, radiology, respiratory therapy, cardiology, and physical therapy. It also operates outpatient health care facilities consisting of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers, freestanding emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, physician practices, and various other facilities. In addition, the company operates psychiatric hospitals, which provide therapeutic programs comprising child, adolescent and adult psychiatric care, adolescent and adult alcohol, drug abuse treatment, and counseling services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 182 hospitals, including 175 general and acute care hospitals, five psychiatric hospitals, and two rehabilitation hospitals; 125 freestanding surgery centers; and 21 freestanding endoscopy centers in 20 states and England. The company was formerly known as HCA Holdings, Inc.

HCA (HCA Healthcare, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Care Facilities, with a market capitalization of approximately $94.85B, a trailing P/E of 14.26, a beta of 1.19 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 330-556.52, average daily share volume of 1.2M, a public-listing history dating back to 2011, approximately 320K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how HCA stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 1.19 places HCA roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. HCA pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on HCA?

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 HCA snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $424.83, ATM IV 28.80%, IV rank 35.10%, expected move 8.26%. The butterfly on HCA 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 HCA specifically: HCA IV at 28.80% 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 8.26% (roughly $35.08 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 HCA expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on HCA should anchor to the underlying notional of $424.83 per share and to the trader's directional view on HCA stock.

HCA butterfly setup

The HCA 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 HCA near $424.83, the first option leg uses a $405.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed HCA 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 HCA shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$405.00	$27.70
Sell 2	Call	$425.00	$16.10
Buy 1	Call	$445.00	$7.20

HCA butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$270.00
Max Profit (per contract): $1,533.02
Max Loss (per contract): -$270.00
Breakeven(s): $407.70, $442.30
Risk / Reward Ratio: 5.678

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.

HCA butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on HCA. 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%	-$270.00
$93.94	-77.9%	-$270.00
$187.87	-55.8%	-$270.00
$281.80	-33.7%	-$270.00
$375.73	-11.6%	-$270.00
$469.67	+10.6%	-$270.00
$563.60	+32.7%	-$270.00
$657.53	+54.8%	-$270.00
$751.46	+76.9%	-$270.00
$845.39	+99.0%	-$270.00

When traders use butterfly on HCA

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

HCA thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for HCA extends from approximately $389.75 on the downside to $459.91 on the upside. A HCA long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if HCA settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current HCA IV rank near 35.10% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on HCA should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Healthcare name, HCA options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to HCA-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on HCA?: A butterfly on HCA is the butterfly strategy applied to HCA (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 HCA stock trading near $424.83, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed HCA chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are HCA 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 HCA butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 28.80%), the computed maximum profit is $1,533.02 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 HCA butterfly?: The breakeven for the HCA butterfly priced on this page is roughly $407.70 and $442.30 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 HCA market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 8.26%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on HCA?: Butterflies on HCA are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect HCA 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 HCA implied volatility affect this butterfly?: HCA ATM IV is at 28.80% with IV rank near 35.10%, 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.