How are NDAQ 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 NDAQ butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 27.47%), the computed maximum profit is $183.33 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$282.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a NDAQ butterfly?

The breakeven for the NDAQ butterfly priced on this page is roughly $88.83 and $93.18 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 NDAQ market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 7.88%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current NDAQ implied volatility affect this butterfly?

NDAQ ATM IV is at 27.47% with IV rank near 51.40%, 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.

NDAQ Butterfly Strategy

NDAQ (Nasdaq, Inc.), in the Financial Services sector, (Financial - Data & Stock Exchanges industry), listed on NASDAQ.

Nasdaq, Inc. operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries worldwide. The Market Technology segment includes anti financial crime technology business, which offers Nasdaq Trade Surveillance, a SaaS solution for brokers and other market participants to assist them in complying with market rules, regulations, and internal market surveillance policies; Nasdaq Automated Investigator, a cloud-deployed anti-money laundering tool; and Verafin, a SaaS technology provider of anti-financial crime management solutions. This segment also handles assets, such as cash equities, equity derivatives, currencies, interest-bearing securities, commodities, energy products, and digital currencies. The Investment Intelligence segment sells and distributes historical and real-time market data; develops and licenses Nasdaq-branded indexes and financial products; and provides investment insights and workflow solutions. The Corporate Platforms segment operates listing platforms; and offers investor relations intelligence and governance solutions. As of December 31, 2021, it had 4,178 companies listed securities on The Nasdaq Stock Market, including 1,632 listings on The Nasdaq Global Select Market; 1,169 on The Nasdaq Global Market; and 1,377 on The Nasdaq Capital Market.

NDAQ (Nasdaq, Inc.) trades in the Financial Services sector, specifically Financial - Data & Stock Exchanges, with a market capitalization of approximately $51.02B, a trailing P/E of 26.73, a beta of 0.99 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 77.09-101.79, average daily share volume of 3.5M, a public-listing history dating back to 2002, approximately 9K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how NDAQ stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.99 places NDAQ roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. NDAQ pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on NDAQ?

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 NDAQ snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $90.88, ATM IV 27.47%, IV rank 51.40%, expected move 7.88%. The butterfly on NDAQ 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 NDAQ specifically: NDAQ IV at 27.47% 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 7.88% (roughly $7.16 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 NDAQ expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on NDAQ should anchor to the underlying notional of $90.88 per share and to the trader's directional view on NDAQ stock.

NDAQ butterfly setup

The NDAQ 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 NDAQ near $90.88, the first option leg uses a $86.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed NDAQ 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 NDAQ shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$86.00	$6.05
Sell 2	Call	$91.00	$2.60
Buy 1	Call	$95.00	$1.98

NDAQ butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$282.50
Max Profit (per contract): $183.33
Max Loss (per contract): -$282.50
Breakeven(s): $88.83, $93.18
Risk / Reward Ratio: 0.649

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.

NDAQ butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on NDAQ. 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%	-$282.50
$20.10	-77.9%	-$282.50
$40.20	-55.8%	-$282.50
$60.29	-33.7%	-$282.50
$80.38	-11.6%	-$282.50
$100.47	+10.6%	-$182.50
$120.57	+32.7%	-$182.50
$140.66	+54.8%	-$182.50
$160.75	+76.9%	-$182.50
$180.85	+99.0%	-$182.50

When traders use butterfly on NDAQ

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

NDAQ thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for NDAQ extends from approximately $83.72 on the downside to $98.04 on the upside. A NDAQ long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if NDAQ settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current NDAQ IV rank near 51.40% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on NDAQ should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Financial Services name, NDAQ options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to NDAQ-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on NDAQ?: A butterfly on NDAQ is the butterfly strategy applied to NDAQ (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 NDAQ stock trading near $90.88, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed NDAQ chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are NDAQ 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 NDAQ butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 27.47%), the computed maximum profit is $183.33 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$282.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a NDAQ butterfly?: The breakeven for the NDAQ butterfly priced on this page is roughly $88.83 and $93.18 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 NDAQ market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 7.88%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on NDAQ?: Butterflies on NDAQ are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect NDAQ 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 NDAQ implied volatility affect this butterfly?: NDAQ ATM IV is at 27.47% with IV rank near 51.40%, 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.