OPAL Butterfly Strategy
OPAL (OPAL Fuels Inc.), in the Utilities sector, (Regulated Gas industry), listed on NASDAQ.
OPAL Fuels Inc. focuses on the creation and distribution of renewable natural gas (RNG), supplying it as an alternative vehicle fuel primarily for heavy and medium-duty commercial trucking fleets. Beyond merely providing fuel, the company also specializes in the comprehensive design, development, construction, operation, and servicing of natural gas fueling infrastructure for these fleets, thereby assisting them in transitioning away from diesel. Additionally, OPAL Fuels offers its expertise in the planning and construction of hydrogen fueling stations. The company further diversifies its operations by generating and marketing renewable electricity to utility providers. As of May 1, 2022, it managed a portfolio of 24 owned and operated biogas production facilities. Established in 1998, OPAL Fuels Inc. is headquartered in White Plains, New York.
OPAL (OPAL Fuels Inc.) trades in the Utilities sector, specifically Regulated Gas, with a market capitalization of approximately $60.8M, a trailing P/E of 3.41, a beta of 0.76 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 1.65-2.87, average daily share volume of 245K, a public-listing history dating back to 2021, approximately 331 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how OPAL stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.76 places OPAL roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 3.41 is on the value side, where IV often compresses outside event windows because forward growth expectations are already discounted into the share price.
What is a butterfly on OPAL?
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.
OPAL snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $2.21, ATM IV 137.00%, IV rank 27.29%, expected move 39.28%. The butterfly on OPAL below is built from the end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 35-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on OPAL specifically: OPAL IV at 137.00% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a OPAL butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 39.28% (roughly $0.87 on the underlying). The 35-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated OPAL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on OPAL should anchor to the underlying notional of $2.21 per share and to the trader's directional view on OPAL stock.
OPAL butterfly setup
The OPAL 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 OPAL at $2.21 on that close, the first option leg uses a $2.10 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed OPAL chain at a 35-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 OPAL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $2.10 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $2.21 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $2.32 | N/A |
OPAL butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- N/A
- Max Profit (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Max Loss (per contract)
- Unbounded
- Breakeven(s)
- None on modeled curve
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- N/A
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.
OPAL butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on OPAL. 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.
When traders use butterfly on OPAL
Butterflies on OPAL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect OPAL 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.
OPAL thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for OPAL extends from approximately $1.34 on the downside to $3.08 on the upside. A OPAL long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if OPAL settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current OPAL IV rank near 27.29% 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 OPAL at 137.00%. As a Utilities name, OPAL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to OPAL-specific events.
OPAL 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. OPAL positions also carry Utilities sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move OPAL alongside the broader basket even when OPAL-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current OPAL chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on OPAL?
- A butterfly on OPAL is the butterfly strategy applied to OPAL (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 OPAL stock at $2.21 on the most recent close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed OPAL chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are OPAL 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 OPAL butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 137.00%), the computed maximum profit is unbounded per contract and the computed maximum loss is unbounded per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a OPAL butterfly?
- The breakeven for the OPAL butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve at expiration, derived from the end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The OPAL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 39.28%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on OPAL?
- Butterflies on OPAL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect OPAL 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 OPAL implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- OPAL ATM IV is at 137.00% with IV rank near 27.29%, 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.