LXRX Butterfly Strategy
LXRX (Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products. Its orally-delivered small molecule drug candidates under development comprise Sotagliflozin that completed Phase III clinical trials for the for the treatment of heart failure and type 1 diabetes; and LX9211, which is in Phase II clinical development for the treatment of neuropathic pain. The company has strategic collaboration and license agreements with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and Genentech, Inc. Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.
LXRX (Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.08B, a beta of 0.97 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 0.51-2.53, average daily share volume of 2.6M, a public-listing history dating back to 2000, approximately 103 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how LXRX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.97 places LXRX roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a butterfly on LXRX?
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 LXRX snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $2.25, ATM IV 99.70%, IV rank 18.95%, expected move 28.58%. The butterfly on LXRX 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 LXRX specifically: LXRX IV at 99.70% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a LXRX butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 28.58% (roughly $0.64 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 LXRX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on LXRX should anchor to the underlying notional of $2.25 per share and to the trader's directional view on LXRX stock.
LXRX butterfly setup
The LXRX 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 LXRX near $2.25, the first option leg uses a $2.14 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed LXRX 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 LXRX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $2.14 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $2.25 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $2.36 | N/A |
LXRX 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.
LXRX butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on LXRX. 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 LXRX
Butterflies on LXRX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect LXRX 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.
LXRX thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for LXRX extends from approximately $1.61 on the downside to $2.89 on the upside. A LXRX long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if LXRX settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current LXRX IV rank near 18.95% 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 LXRX at 99.70%. As a Healthcare name, LXRX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to LXRX-specific events.
LXRX 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. LXRX positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move LXRX alongside the broader basket even when LXRX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current LXRX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on LXRX?
- A butterfly on LXRX is the butterfly strategy applied to LXRX (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 LXRX stock trading near $2.25, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed LXRX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are LXRX 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 LXRX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 99.70%), 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 LXRX butterfly?
- The breakeven for the LXRX butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 LXRX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 28.58%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on LXRX?
- Butterflies on LXRX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect LXRX 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 LXRX implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- LXRX ATM IV is at 99.70% with IV rank near 18.95%, 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.