How are NOW 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 NOW butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 58.41%), the computed maximum profit is $402.64 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$75.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a NOW butterfly?

The breakeven for the NOW butterfly priced on this page is roughly $90.75 and $99.25 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 NOW market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 16.75%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current NOW implied volatility affect this butterfly?

NOW ATM IV is at 58.41% with IV rank near 63.12%, 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.

NOW Butterfly Strategy

NOW (ServiceNow, Inc.), in the Technology sector, (Software - Application industry), listed on NYSE.

ServiceNow, Inc. provides enterprise cloud computing solutions that defines, structures, consolidates, manages, and automates services for enterprises worldwide. It operates the Now platform for workflow automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic process automation, performance analytics, electronic service catalogs and portals, configuration management systems, data benchmarking, encryption, and collaboration and development tools. The company also provides information technology (IT) service management applications; IT service management product suite for enterprise's employees, customers, and partners; IT business management product suite; IT operations management product that connects a customer's physical and cloud-based IT infrastructure; IT Asset Management to automate IT asset lifecycles; and security operations that connects with internal and third party. In addition, it offers governance, risk, and compliance product to manage risk and resilience; human resources, legal, and workplace service delivery products; safe workplace applications; customer service management product; and field service management applications. Further, it provides App Engine product; IntegrationHub enables application to extend workflows; and professional, industry solutions, and customer support services. It serves government, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, IT services, technology, oil and gas, education, and consumer products through direct sales team and resale partners.

NOW (ServiceNow, Inc.) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Software - Application, with a market capitalization of approximately $89.78B, a trailing P/E of 51.29, a beta of 0.82 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 81.24-211.478, average daily share volume of 22.1M, a public-listing history dating back to 2012, approximately 26K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how NOW stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 0.82 places NOW roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 51.29 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 NOW?

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 NOW snapshot

As of May 15, 2026, spot at $95.25, ATM IV 58.41%, IV rank 63.12%, expected move 16.75%. The butterfly on NOW 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 NOW specifically: NOW IV at 58.41% 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 16.75% (roughly $15.95 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 NOW expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on NOW should anchor to the underlying notional of $95.25 per share and to the trader's directional view on NOW stock.

NOW butterfly setup

The NOW 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 NOW near $95.25, the first option leg uses a $90.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed NOW 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 NOW shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$90.00	$9.30
Sell 2	Call	$95.00	$6.40
Buy 1	Call	$100.00	$4.25

NOW butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$75.00
Max Profit (per contract): $402.64
Max Loss (per contract): -$75.00
Breakeven(s): $90.75, $99.25
Risk / Reward Ratio: 5.369

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.

NOW butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on NOW. 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%	-$75.00
$21.07	-77.9%	-$75.00
$42.13	-55.8%	-$75.00
$63.19	-33.7%	-$75.00
$84.25	-11.6%	-$75.00
$105.31	+10.6%	-$75.00
$126.37	+32.7%	-$75.00
$147.42	+54.8%	-$75.00
$168.48	+76.9%	-$75.00
$189.54	+99.0%	-$75.00

When traders use butterfly on NOW

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

NOW thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for NOW extends from approximately $79.30 on the downside to $111.20 on the upside. A NOW long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if NOW settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current NOW IV rank near 63.12% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on NOW should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Technology name, NOW options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to NOW-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on NOW?: A butterfly on NOW is the butterfly strategy applied to NOW (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 NOW stock trading near $95.25, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed NOW chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are NOW 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 NOW butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 58.41%), the computed maximum profit is $402.64 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$75.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a NOW butterfly?: The breakeven for the NOW butterfly priced on this page is roughly $90.75 and $99.25 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 NOW market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 16.75%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on NOW?: Butterflies on NOW are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect NOW 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 NOW implied volatility affect this butterfly?: NOW ATM IV is at 58.41% with IV rank near 63.12%, 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.