LIVN Butterfly Strategy
LIVN (LivaNova PLC), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Devices industry), listed on NASDAQ.
LivaNova PLC is a global medical technology company dedicated to developing, manufacturing, and marketing a variety of therapeutic solutions. The company operates through three key segments. Its Cardiopulmonary division provides essential products for heart-lung procedures, such as oxygenators, heart-lung machines, and various perfusion systems. The Neuromodulation segment is known for its VNS Therapy System, an implantable device that delivers vagus nerve stimulation to treat drug-resistant epilepsy, difficult-to-treat depression, and obstructive sleep apnea. This segment is also advancing the VITARIA System, which employs VNS for heart failure, through clinical development. The Advanced Circulatory Support segment offers temporary life support solutions, including both cardiopulmonary and respiratory support technologies.
LIVN (LivaNova PLC) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Devices, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.58B, a trailing P/E of 42.60, a beta of 0.88 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 41.015-83.98, average daily share volume of 815K, a public-listing history dating back to 2015, approximately 3K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how LIVN stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.88 places LIVN roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 42.60 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.
What is a butterfly on LIVN?
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 LIVN snapshot
As of June 29, 2026, spot at $82.16, ATM IV 35.90%, IV rank 21.64%, expected move 10.29%. The butterfly on LIVN 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 18-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on LIVN specifically: LIVN IV at 35.90% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a LIVN butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 10.29% (roughly $8.46 on the underlying). The 18-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated LIVN expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on LIVN should anchor to the underlying notional of $82.16 per share and to the trader's directional view on LIVN stock.
LIVN butterfly setup
The LIVN 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 LIVN near $82.16, the first option leg uses a $77.50 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed LIVN chain at a 18-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 LIVN shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $77.50 | $6.20 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $82.50 | $2.78 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $87.50 | $0.80 |
LIVN butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$145.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $347.22
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$145.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $78.95, $86.05
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 2.395
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.
LIVN butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on LIVN. 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% | -$145.00 |
| $18.17 | -77.9% | -$145.00 |
| $36.34 | -55.8% | -$145.00 |
| $54.50 | -33.7% | -$145.00 |
| $72.67 | -11.6% | -$145.00 |
| $90.83 | +10.6% | -$145.00 |
| $109.00 | +32.7% | -$145.00 |
| $127.16 | +54.8% | -$145.00 |
| $145.33 | +76.9% | -$145.00 |
| $163.49 | +99.0% | -$145.00 |
When traders use butterfly on LIVN
Butterflies on LIVN are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect LIVN 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.
LIVN thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for LIVN extends from approximately $73.70 on the downside to $90.62 on the upside. A LIVN long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if LIVN settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current LIVN IV rank near 21.64% 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 LIVN at 35.90%. As a Healthcare name, LIVN options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to LIVN-specific events.
LIVN 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. LIVN positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move LIVN alongside the broader basket even when LIVN-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current LIVN chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on LIVN?
- A butterfly on LIVN is the butterfly strategy applied to LIVN (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 LIVN stock trading near $82.16, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed LIVN chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are LIVN 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 LIVN butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 35.90%), the computed maximum profit is $347.22 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$145.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a LIVN butterfly?
- The breakeven for the LIVN butterfly priced on this page is roughly $78.95 and $86.05 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 LIVN market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 10.29%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on LIVN?
- Butterflies on LIVN are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect LIVN 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 LIVN implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- LIVN ATM IV is at 35.90% with IV rank near 21.64%, 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.