How are LRCX 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 LRCX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 64.61%), the computed maximum profit is $1,274.92 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$155.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a LRCX butterfly?

The breakeven for the LRCX butterfly priced on this page is roughly $271.52 and $298.45 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 LRCX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 18.52%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current LRCX implied volatility affect this butterfly?

LRCX ATM IV is at 64.61% with IV rank near 73.71%, 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.

LRCX Butterfly Strategy

LRCX (Lam Research Corporation), in the Technology sector, (Semiconductors industry), listed on NASDAQ.

Lam Research Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, refurbishes, and services semiconductor processing equipment used in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The company offers ALTUS systems to deposit conformal films for tungsten metallization applications; SABRE electrochemical deposition products for copper interconnect transition that offers copper damascene manufacturing; SOLA ultraviolet thermal processing products for film treatments; and VECTOR plasma-enhanced CVD ALD products. It also provides SPEED gapfill high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition products; and Striker single-wafer atomic layer deposition products for dielectric film solutions. In addition, the company offers Flex for dielectric etch applications; Kiyo for conductor etch applications; Syndion for through-silicon via etch applications; and Versys metal products for metal etch processes. Further, it provides Coronus bevel clean products to enhance die yield; Da Vinci, DV-Prime, EOS, and SP series products to address various wafer cleaning applications; and Metryx mass metrology systems for high precision in-line mass measurement in semiconductor wafer manufacturing. The company sells its products and services to semiconductors industry in the United States, China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and internationally.

LRCX (Lam Research Corporation) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Semiconductors, with a market capitalization of approximately $369.47B, a trailing P/E of 55.04, a beta of 1.82 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 79.49-300, average daily share volume of 10.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 1984, approximately 19K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how LRCX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 1.82 indicates LRCX has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. The trailing P/E of 55.04 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. LRCX pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on LRCX?

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 LRCX snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $285.73, ATM IV 64.61%, IV rank 73.71%, expected move 18.52%. The butterfly on LRCX 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 28-day expiry.

Why this butterfly structure on LRCX specifically: LRCX IV at 64.61% is rich versus its 1-year range, which makes a premium-buying LRCX butterfly relatively expensive in absolute-cost terms, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 18.52% (roughly $52.93 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated LRCX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on LRCX should anchor to the underlying notional of $285.73 per share and to the trader's directional view on LRCX stock.

LRCX butterfly setup

The LRCX 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 LRCX near $285.73, the first option leg uses a $270.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed LRCX chain at a 28-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 LRCX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$270.00	$29.60
Sell 2	Call	$285.00	$21.53
Buy 1	Call	$300.00	$15.00

LRCX butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$155.00
Max Profit (per contract): $1,274.92
Max Loss (per contract): -$155.00
Breakeven(s): $271.52, $298.45
Risk / Reward Ratio: 8.225

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.

LRCX butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on LRCX. 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%	-$155.00
$63.19	-77.9%	-$155.00
$126.36	-55.8%	-$155.00
$189.54	-33.7%	-$155.00
$252.71	-11.6%	-$155.00
$315.89	+10.6%	-$155.00
$379.06	+32.7%	-$155.00
$442.24	+54.8%	-$155.00
$505.41	+76.9%	-$155.00
$568.59	+99.0%	-$155.00

When traders use butterfly on LRCX

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

LRCX thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for LRCX extends from approximately $232.80 on the downside to $338.66 on the upside. A LRCX long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if LRCX settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current LRCX IV rank near 73.71% 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 LRCX at 64.61%. As a Technology name, LRCX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to LRCX-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on LRCX?: A butterfly on LRCX is the butterfly strategy applied to LRCX (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 LRCX stock trading near $285.73, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed LRCX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are LRCX 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 LRCX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 64.61%), the computed maximum profit is $1,274.92 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$155.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a LRCX butterfly?: The breakeven for the LRCX butterfly priced on this page is roughly $271.52 and $298.45 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 LRCX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 18.52%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on LRCX?: Butterflies on LRCX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect LRCX 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 LRCX implied volatility affect this butterfly?: LRCX ATM IV is at 64.61% with IV rank near 73.71%, 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.