How are PAR 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 PAR butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 76.20%), the computed maximum profit is $72.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$77.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a PAR butterfly?

The breakeven for the PAR butterfly priced on this page is roughly $16.78 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 PAR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 21.85%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current PAR implied volatility affect this butterfly?

PAR ATM IV is at 76.20% with IV rank near 49.28%, 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.

PAR Butterfly Strategy

PAR (PAR Technology Corporation), in the Technology sector, (Software - Application industry), listed on NYSE.

PAR Technology Corporation, founded in 1968 and headquartered in New Hartford, New York, specializes in delivering innovative technological solutions across two primary business areas globally. Its Restaurant/Retail division provides an extensive array of offerings tailored for restaurants and retail establishments. This includes advanced point-of-sale (POS) technology, such as Brink POS, an adaptable cloud platform designed for seamless integration with external applications and internal systems. They also offer Punchh, a robust, enterprise-level platform for cultivating customer loyalty and engagement within restaurant and convenience store brands, and Data Central, a cloud-based software solution for comprehensive back-office management. Additionally, PAR facilitates transactions through its dedicated PAR Payment Services, integrates wireless headsets for efficient drive-thru order-taking, and supplies various proprietary hardware platforms like the PAR Infinity, PAR Phase, PAR Helix, and EverServ 8000 series. Beyond products, this segment extends its support through professional training, expert installation, ongoing technical assistance, and repair services.

PAR (PAR Technology Corporation) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Software - Application, with a market capitalization of approximately $697.1M, a beta of 1.34 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 11.59-72.15, average daily share volume of 1.5M, a public-listing history dating back to 1982, approximately 2K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how PAR stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 1.34 indicates PAR has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position.

What is a butterfly on PAR?

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 PAR snapshot

As of June 29, 2026, spot at $17.32, ATM IV 76.20%, IV rank 49.28%, expected move 21.85%. The butterfly on PAR 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 18-day expiry.

Why this butterfly structure on PAR specifically: PAR IV at 76.20% 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 21.85% (roughly $3.78 on the underlying). The 18-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated PAR expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on PAR should anchor to the underlying notional of $17.32 per share and to the trader's directional view on PAR stock.

PAR butterfly setup

The PAR 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 PAR near $17.32, the first option leg uses a $16.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed PAR chain at a 18-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 PAR shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$16.00	$1.90
Sell 2	Call	$17.50	$1.13
Buy 1	Call	$17.50	$1.13

PAR butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$77.50
Max Profit (per contract): $72.50
Max Loss (per contract): -$77.50
Breakeven(s): $16.78
Risk / Reward Ratio: 0.935

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.

PAR butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on PAR. 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.

P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.

Underlying Price	% From Spot	P&L at Expiration
$0.01	-99.9%	-$77.50
$3.84	-77.8%	-$77.50
$7.67	-55.7%	-$77.50
$11.50	-33.6%	-$77.50
$15.32	-11.5%	-$77.50
$19.15	+10.6%	+$72.50
$22.98	+32.7%	+$72.50
$26.81	+54.8%	+$72.50
$30.64	+76.9%	+$72.50
$34.47	+99.0%	+$72.50

When traders use butterfly on PAR

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

PAR thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for PAR extends from approximately $13.54 on the downside to $21.10 on the upside. A PAR long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if PAR settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current PAR IV rank near 49.28% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on PAR should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Technology name, PAR options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to PAR-specific events.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on PAR?: A butterfly on PAR is the butterfly strategy applied to PAR (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 PAR stock trading near $17.32, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed PAR chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
How are PAR 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 PAR butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 76.20%), the computed maximum profit is $72.50 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$77.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a PAR butterfly?: The breakeven for the PAR butterfly priced on this page is roughly $16.78 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 PAR market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 21.85%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on PAR?: Butterflies on PAR are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect PAR 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 PAR implied volatility affect this butterfly?: PAR ATM IV is at 76.20% with IV rank near 49.28%, 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.