NVCR Butterfly Strategy
NVCR (NovoCure Limited), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Instruments & Supplies industry), listed on NASDAQ.
NovoCure Limited, an oncology company, engages in the development, manufacture, and commercialization of tumor treating fields (TTFields) devices for the treatment of solid tumor cancers in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, and Greater China. Its TTFields devices include Optune for the treatment of glioblastoma; and Optune Lua for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma. The company also has ongoing or completed clinical trials investigating TTFields in brain metastases, gastric cancer, glioblastoma, liver cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and ovarian cancer. NovoCure Limited was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Saint Helier, Jersey.
NVCR (NovoCure Limited) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Instruments & Supplies, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.10B, a beta of 0.90 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 9.82-20.06, average daily share volume of 1.8M, a public-listing history dating back to 2015, approximately 1K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how NVCR stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.90 places NVCR roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a butterfly on NVCR?
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 NVCR snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $17.55, ATM IV 62.00%, IV rank 13.93%, expected move 17.77%. The butterfly on NVCR 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 NVCR specifically: NVCR IV at 62.00% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a NVCR butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 17.77% (roughly $3.12 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 NVCR expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on NVCR should anchor to the underlying notional of $17.55 per share and to the trader's directional view on NVCR stock.
NVCR butterfly setup
The NVCR 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 NVCR near $17.55, the first option leg uses a $17.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed NVCR 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 NVCR shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $17.00 | $1.70 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $18.00 | $1.13 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $18.00 | $1.13 |
NVCR butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$57.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $42.50
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$57.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $17.58
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.739
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.
NVCR butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on NVCR. 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 | -99.9% | -$57.50 |
| $3.89 | -77.8% | -$57.50 |
| $7.77 | -55.7% | -$57.50 |
| $11.65 | -33.6% | -$57.50 |
| $15.53 | -11.5% | -$57.50 |
| $19.41 | +10.6% | +$42.50 |
| $23.29 | +32.7% | +$42.50 |
| $27.17 | +54.8% | +$42.50 |
| $31.04 | +76.9% | +$42.50 |
| $34.92 | +99.0% | +$42.50 |
When traders use butterfly on NVCR
Butterflies on NVCR are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect NVCR 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.
NVCR thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for NVCR extends from approximately $14.43 on the downside to $20.67 on the upside. A NVCR long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if NVCR settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current NVCR IV rank near 13.93% 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 NVCR at 62.00%. As a Healthcare name, NVCR options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to NVCR-specific events.
NVCR 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. NVCR positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move NVCR alongside the broader basket even when NVCR-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current NVCR chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on NVCR?
- A butterfly on NVCR is the butterfly strategy applied to NVCR (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 NVCR stock trading near $17.55, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed NVCR chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are NVCR 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 NVCR butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 62.00%), the computed maximum profit is $42.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$57.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a NVCR butterfly?
- The breakeven for the NVCR butterfly priced on this page is roughly $17.58 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 NVCR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 17.77%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on NVCR?
- Butterflies on NVCR are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect NVCR 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 NVCR implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- NVCR ATM IV is at 62.00% with IV rank near 13.93%, 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.