How are LOPE 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 LOPE butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 27.40%), the computed maximum profit is $524.41 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$455.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a LOPE butterfly?

The breakeven for the LOPE butterfly priced on this page is roughly $165.45 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 LOPE market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 7.86%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current LOPE implied volatility affect this butterfly?

LOPE ATM IV is at 27.40% with IV rank near 18.67%, 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.

LOPE Butterfly Strategy

LOPE (Grand Canyon Education, Inc.), in the Consumer Defensive sector, (Education & Training Services industry), listed on NASDAQ.

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. provides education services to colleges and universities in the United States. The company's technology services include learning management system, internal administration, infrastructure, and support services; academic services comprises program and curriculum, faculty and related training and development, class scheduling, and skills and simulation lab sites; and counseling services and support include admission, financial aid, and field experience and other counseling services. It also offers marketing and communication services, such as lead acquisition, digital communications strategy, brand identity, market research, media planning and strategy, video, and business intelligence and data science; and back-office services comprising finance and accounting, human resources, audit, and procurement services. The company, through its subsidiary, Orbis Education Services, LLC, supports healthcare education programs for 27 universities. Grand Canyon Education, Inc. was founded in 1949 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

LOPE (Grand Canyon Education, Inc.) trades in the Consumer Defensive sector, specifically Education & Training Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.26B, a trailing P/E of 19.55, a beta of 0.62 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 149.37-223.04, average daily share volume of 297K, a public-listing history dating back to 2008, approximately 4K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how LOPE stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.62 indicates LOPE has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.

What is a butterfly on LOPE?

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 LOPE snapshot

As of May 14, 2026, spot at $161.01, ATM IV 27.40%, IV rank 18.67%, expected move 7.86%. The butterfly on LOPE 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 LOPE specifically: LOPE IV at 27.40% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a LOPE butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 7.86% (roughly $12.65 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 LOPE expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on LOPE should anchor to the underlying notional of $161.01 per share and to the trader's directional view on LOPE stock.

LOPE butterfly setup

The LOPE 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 LOPE near $161.01, the first option leg uses a $155.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed LOPE 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 LOPE shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$155.00	$7.20
Sell 2	Call	$160.00	$4.40
Buy 1	Call	$170.00	$1.15

LOPE butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: +$45.00
Max Profit (per contract): $524.41
Max Loss (per contract): -$455.00
Breakeven(s): $165.45
Risk / Reward Ratio: 1.153

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.

LOPE butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on LOPE. 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%	+$45.00
$35.61	-77.9%	+$45.00
$71.21	-55.8%	+$45.00
$106.81	-33.7%	+$45.00
$142.41	-11.6%	+$45.00
$178.01	+10.6%	-$455.00
$213.60	+32.7%	-$455.00
$249.20	+54.8%	-$455.00
$284.80	+76.9%	-$455.00
$320.40	+99.0%	-$455.00

When traders use butterfly on LOPE

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

LOPE thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for LOPE extends from approximately $148.36 on the downside to $173.66 on the upside. A LOPE long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if LOPE settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current LOPE IV rank near 18.67% 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 LOPE at 27.40%. As a Consumer Defensive name, LOPE options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to LOPE-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on LOPE?: A butterfly on LOPE is the butterfly strategy applied to LOPE (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 LOPE stock trading near $161.01, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed LOPE chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are LOPE 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 LOPE butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 27.40%), the computed maximum profit is $524.41 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$455.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a LOPE butterfly?: The breakeven for the LOPE butterfly priced on this page is roughly $165.45 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 LOPE market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 7.86%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on LOPE?: Butterflies on LOPE are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect LOPE 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 LOPE implied volatility affect this butterfly?: LOPE ATM IV is at 27.40% with IV rank near 18.67%, 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.