KRC Butterfly Strategy
KRC (Kilroy Realty Corporation), in the Real Estate sector, (REIT - Office industry), listed on NYSE.
Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE: KRC) is a distinguished real estate investment trust (REIT) and a leading developer on the West Coast of the United States. Its operations span key markets including San Diego, Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Pacific Northwest. Globally celebrated for its commitment to sustainability, excellence in building operations, and groundbreaking innovation and design, KRC stands out. The company, a pioneer in fostering eco-friendly real estate, crafts modern work environments specifically designed to boost creativity, enhance productivity, and improve employee retention for prominent clients in technology, entertainment, life sciences, and business services sectors. As a publicly traded entity and an S&P MidCap 400 Index member, KRC brings over seven decades of expertise to the development, acquisition, and management of office and mixed-use properties. As of September 30, 2020, Kilroy Realty's stabilized portfolio encompassed approximately 14.3 million square feet, primarily comprising office and life science facilities, with an occupancy rate of 92.2% and a leased rate of 95.5%.
KRC (Kilroy Realty Corporation) trades in the Real Estate sector, specifically REIT - Office, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.22B, a trailing P/E of 25.04, a beta of 1.15 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 27.36-45.03, average daily share volume of 1.7M, a public-listing history dating back to 1997, approximately 241 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how KRC stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.15 places KRC roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. KRC pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on KRC?
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.
KRC snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $36.43, ATM IV 34.80%, IV rank 5.94%, expected move 9.98%. The butterfly on KRC 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 KRC specifically: KRC IV at 34.80% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a KRC butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 9.98% (roughly $3.63 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 KRC expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on KRC should anchor to the underlying notional of $36.43 per share and to the trader's directional view on KRC stock.
KRC butterfly setup
The KRC 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 KRC at $36.43 on that close, the first option leg uses a $34.61 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed KRC 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 KRC shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $34.61 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $36.43 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $38.25 | N/A |
KRC 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.
KRC butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on KRC. 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 KRC
Butterflies on KRC are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect KRC 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.
KRC thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for KRC extends from approximately $32.80 on the downside to $40.06 on the upside. A KRC long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if KRC settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current KRC IV rank near 5.94% 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 KRC at 34.80%. As a Real Estate name, KRC options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to KRC-specific events.
KRC 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. KRC positions also carry Real Estate sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move KRC alongside the broader basket even when KRC-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current KRC chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on KRC?
- A butterfly on KRC is the butterfly strategy applied to KRC (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 KRC stock at $36.43 on the most recent close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed KRC chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are KRC 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 KRC butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 34.80%), 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 KRC butterfly?
- The breakeven for the KRC 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 KRC market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 9.98%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on KRC?
- Butterflies on KRC are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect KRC 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 KRC implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- KRC ATM IV is at 34.80% with IV rank near 5.94%, 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.