INTC Butterfly Strategy

INTC (Intel Corp.), in the Technology sector, (Semiconductors industry), listed on NASDAQ.

Intel Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and services computing and related end products and services in the United States, Ireland, Israel, and internationally. It operates through three segments: CCG, DCAI, and Intel Foundry. The company offers client computing group products, including client and commercial CPUs, discrete client GPUs, edge computing, and connectivity products; data center and AI products, such as server CPUs, discrete GPUs, and networking products; and semiconductors comprising wafer fabrication, substrates, and other related products and services. It also provides driving assistance and self-driving solutions; and develops and manufactures multi-beam mask writing tools. The company sells its products through sales organizations, distributors, resellers, retailers, and OEM partners. It serves original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, cloud service providers, and other manufacturers and service providers.

INTC (Intel Corp.) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Semiconductors, with a market capitalization of approximately $644.94B, a beta of 2.23 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 18.97-141.45, average daily share volume of 136.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 1980, approximately 85K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how INTC stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 2.23 indicates INTC has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. INTC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on INTC?

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 INTC snapshot

As of June 30, 2026, spot at $140.32, ATM IV 94.06%, IV rank 96.15%, expected move 26.97%. The butterfly on INTC 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 31-day expiry.

Why this butterfly structure on INTC specifically: INTC IV at 94.06% is rich versus its 1-year range, which makes a premium-buying INTC butterfly relatively expensive in absolute-cost terms, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 26.97% (roughly $37.84 on the underlying). The 31-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated INTC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on INTC should anchor to the underlying notional of $140.32 per share and to the trader's directional view on INTC stock.

INTC butterfly setup

The INTC 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 INTC near $140.32, the first option leg uses a $133.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed INTC chain at a 31-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 INTC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

ActionTypeStrike / BasisPremium (est)
Buy 1Call$133.00$19.18
Sell 2Call$140.00$15.78
Buy 1Call$147.00$12.80

INTC butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit
-$42.50
Max Profit (per contract)
$619.49
Max Loss (per contract)
-$42.50
Breakeven(s)
$133.18, $146.58
Risk / Reward Ratio
14.576

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.

INTC butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on INTC. 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.

INTC butterfly profit and loss curve at expiration with breakevens and current spot markedINTC butterfly payoff at expiration$0$100$200$300$400$500$600$50$100$150$200$250Underlying Price ($)P&L at Expiration ($)BE $133.18BE $146.57Spot $140.32
P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.
Underlying Price% From SpotP&L at Expiration
$0.01-100.0%-$42.50
$31.03-77.9%-$42.50
$62.06-55.8%-$42.50
$93.08-33.7%-$42.50
$124.11-11.6%-$42.50
$155.13+10.6%-$42.50
$186.16+32.7%-$42.50
$217.18+54.8%-$42.50
$248.21+76.9%-$42.50
$279.23+99.0%-$42.50

When traders use butterfly on INTC

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

INTC thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for INTC extends from approximately $102.48 on the downside to $178.16 on the upside. A INTC long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if INTC settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current INTC IV rank near 96.15% sits in the upper third of its 1-year distribution, which historically reverts; this raises the bar for premium-buying structures and lowers it for premium-selling structures on INTC at 94.06%. As a Technology name, INTC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to INTC-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on INTC?
A butterfly on INTC is the butterfly strategy applied to INTC (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 INTC stock trading near $140.32, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed INTC chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are INTC 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 INTC butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 94.06%), the computed maximum profit is $619.49 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$42.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a INTC butterfly?
The breakeven for the INTC butterfly priced on this page is roughly $133.18 and $146.58 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 INTC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 26.97%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on INTC?
Butterflies on INTC are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect INTC 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 INTC implied volatility affect this butterfly?
INTC ATM IV is at 94.06% with IV rank near 96.15%, which is elevated relative to its 1-year range. Premium-selling structures (covered call, cash-secured put, iron condor) generally look more attractive when IV rank is high; premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are more expensive in that regime.

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