NOVT Butterfly Strategy
NOVT (Novanta Inc.), in the Technology sector, (Hardware, Equipment & Parts industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Novanta Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, markets, and sells photonics, vision, and precision motion components and sub-systems to original equipment manufacturers in the medical and industrial markets worldwide. The company's Photonics segment offers photonics-based solutions, including laser scanning and beam delivery, CO2 laser, solid state laser, ultrafast laser, and optical light engine products serving photonics-based applications for industrial processing, metrology, medical and life science imaging, DNA sequencing, and medical laser procedures. It's Vision segment provides a range of medical grade technologies, including medical insufflators, pumps, and related disposables; visualization solutions; wireless technologies, video recorders, and video integration technologies for operating room integrations; optical data collection and machine vision technologies; radio frequency identification technologies; thermal chart recorders; spectrometry technologies; and embedded touch screen solutions. In addition, its Precision Motion segment offers optical and inductive encoders, precision motors, servo drives and motion control solutions, integrated stepper motors, intelligent robotic end-of-arm technology solutions, air bearings, and air bearing spindles. The company sells its products through its direct sales force, resellers, distributors, and system integrators under the Cambridge Technology, Synrad, Laser Quantum, ARGES, WOM, NDS, NDSsi, Med X Change, Reach Technology, JADAK, ThingMagic, Photo Research, Celera Motion, MicroE, Zettlex, Applimotion, Ingenia, and Westwind brands. The company was formerly known as GSI Group, Inc. and changed its name to Novanta Inc. in May 2016.
NOVT (Novanta Inc.) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Hardware, Equipment & Parts, with a market capitalization of approximately $5.54B, a trailing P/E of 116.97, a beta of 1.62 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 98.27-165.56, average daily share volume of 423K, a public-listing history dating back to 1999, approximately 3K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how NOVT stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.62 indicates NOVT 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 116.97 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.
What is a butterfly on NOVT?
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 NOVT snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $152.80, ATM IV 51.30%, IV rank 42.86%, expected move 14.71%. The butterfly on NOVT 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 NOVT specifically: NOVT IV at 51.30% 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 14.71% (roughly $22.47 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 NOVT expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on NOVT should anchor to the underlying notional of $152.80 per share and to the trader's directional view on NOVT stock.
NOVT butterfly setup
The NOVT 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 NOVT near $152.80, the first option leg uses a $145.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed NOVT 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 NOVT shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $145.00 | $15.00 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $155.00 | $8.90 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $160.00 | $6.55 |
NOVT butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$375.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $614.16
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$375.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $148.75
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.638
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.
NOVT butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on NOVT. 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% | -$375.00 |
| $33.79 | -77.9% | -$375.00 |
| $67.58 | -55.8% | -$375.00 |
| $101.36 | -33.7% | -$375.00 |
| $135.15 | -11.6% | -$375.00 |
| $168.93 | +10.6% | +$125.00 |
| $202.71 | +32.7% | +$125.00 |
| $236.50 | +54.8% | +$125.00 |
| $270.28 | +76.9% | +$125.00 |
| $304.06 | +99.0% | +$125.00 |
When traders use butterfly on NOVT
Butterflies on NOVT are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect NOVT 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.
NOVT thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for NOVT extends from approximately $130.33 on the downside to $175.27 on the upside. A NOVT long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if NOVT settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current NOVT IV rank near 42.86% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on NOVT should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Technology name, NOVT options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to NOVT-specific events.
NOVT 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. NOVT positions also carry Technology sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move NOVT alongside the broader basket even when NOVT-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current NOVT chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on NOVT?
- A butterfly on NOVT is the butterfly strategy applied to NOVT (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 NOVT stock trading near $152.80, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed NOVT chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are NOVT 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 NOVT butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 51.30%), the computed maximum profit is $614.16 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$375.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a NOVT butterfly?
- The breakeven for the NOVT butterfly priced on this page is roughly $148.75 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 NOVT market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 14.71%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on NOVT?
- Butterflies on NOVT are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect NOVT 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 NOVT implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- NOVT ATM IV is at 51.30% with IV rank near 42.86%, 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.