How are MCD 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 MCD butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 19.89%), the computed maximum profit is $824.79 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$641.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a MCD butterfly?

The breakeven for the MCD butterfly priced on this page is roughly $266.41 and $283.59 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 MCD market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 5.70%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current MCD implied volatility affect this butterfly?

MCD ATM IV is at 19.89% with IV rank near 53.35%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.

MCD Butterfly Strategy

MCD (McDonald's Corporation), in the Consumer Cyclical sector, (Restaurants industry), listed on NYSE.

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises McDonald's restaurants in the United States and internationally. Its restaurants offer hamburgers and cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches and nuggets, wraps, fries, salads, oatmeal, shakes, desserts, sundaes, soft serve cones, bakery items, soft drinks, coffee, and beverages and other beverages, as well as breakfast menu, including biscuit and bagel sandwiches, breakfast burritos, hotcakes, and other sandwiches. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 40,031 restaurants. McDonald's Corporation was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

MCD (McDonald's Corporation) trades in the Consumer Cyclical sector, specifically Restaurants, with a market capitalization of approximately $195.89B, a trailing P/E of 22.58, a beta of 0.44 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 271.98-341.75, average daily share volume of 3.4M, a public-listing history dating back to 1965, approximately 150K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MCD stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.44 indicates MCD has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. MCD pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on MCD?

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 MCD snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $276.04, ATM IV 19.89%, IV rank 53.35%, expected move 5.70%. The butterfly on MCD 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 MCD specifically: MCD IV at 19.89% is mid-range versus its 1-year history, so strategy selection should anchor more to the directional thesis than to the IV regime, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 5.70% (roughly $15.74 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 MCD expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MCD should anchor to the underlying notional of $276.04 per share and to the trader's directional view on MCD stock.

MCD butterfly setup

The MCD 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 MCD near $276.04, the first option leg uses a $260.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MCD 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 MCD shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$260.00	$17.35
Sell 2	Call	$275.00	$6.20
Buy 1	Call	$290.00	$1.46

MCD butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$641.00
Max Profit (per contract): $824.79
Max Loss (per contract): -$641.00
Breakeven(s): $266.41, $283.59
Risk / Reward Ratio: 1.287

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.

MCD butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on MCD. 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%	-$641.00
$61.04	-77.9%	-$641.00
$122.08	-55.8%	-$641.00
$183.11	-33.7%	-$641.00
$244.14	-11.6%	-$641.00
$305.17	+10.6%	-$641.00
$366.21	+32.7%	-$641.00
$427.24	+54.8%	-$641.00
$488.27	+76.9%	-$641.00
$549.31	+99.0%	-$641.00

When traders use butterfly on MCD

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

MCD thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MCD extends from approximately $260.30 on the downside to $291.78 on the upside. A MCD long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if MCD settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current MCD IV rank near 53.35% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on MCD should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Consumer Cyclical name, MCD options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MCD-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on MCD?: A butterfly on MCD is the butterfly strategy applied to MCD (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 MCD stock trading near $276.04, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MCD chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are MCD 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 MCD butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 19.89%), the computed maximum profit is $824.79 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$641.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a MCD butterfly?: The breakeven for the MCD butterfly priced on this page is roughly $266.41 and $283.59 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 MCD market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 5.70%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on MCD?: Butterflies on MCD are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect MCD 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 MCD implied volatility affect this butterfly?: MCD ATM IV is at 19.89% with IV rank near 53.35%, which is mid-range against its 1-year history. Strategy selection depends more on directional thesis and expected move than on a strong IV signal.