PCRX Butterfly Strategy
PCRX (Pacira BioSciences, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Pacira BioSciences, Inc. provides non-opioid pain management and regenerative health solutions for healthcare practitioners and their patients in the United States. The company offers EXPAREL, a bupivacaine liposome injectable suspension; ZILRETTA, a triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension; and iovera system, a non-opioid handheld cryoanalgesia device used to produce controlled doses of cold temperature only to targeted nerves. It also develops proprietary multivesicular liposome, a drug delivery technology that encapsulates drugs without altering their molecular structure. The company was formerly known as Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Pacira BioSciences, Inc. in April 2019. Pacira BioSciences, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
PCRX (Pacira BioSciences, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic, with a market capitalization of approximately $906.3M, a trailing P/E of 181.44, a beta of 0.32 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 18.8-27.64, average daily share volume of 738K, a public-listing history dating back to 2011, approximately 788 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how PCRX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.32 indicates PCRX has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. The trailing P/E of 181.44 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 PCRX?
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 PCRX snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $22.80, ATM IV 60.70%, IV rank 7.02%, expected move 17.40%. The butterfly on PCRX 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 PCRX specifically: PCRX IV at 60.70% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a PCRX butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 17.40% (roughly $3.97 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 PCRX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on PCRX should anchor to the underlying notional of $22.80 per share and to the trader's directional view on PCRX stock.
PCRX butterfly setup
The PCRX 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 PCRX near $22.80, the first option leg uses a $21.66 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed PCRX 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 PCRX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $21.66 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $22.80 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $23.94 | N/A |
PCRX 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.
PCRX butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on PCRX. 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 PCRX
Butterflies on PCRX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect PCRX 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.
PCRX thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for PCRX extends from approximately $18.83 on the downside to $26.77 on the upside. A PCRX long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if PCRX settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current PCRX IV rank near 7.02% 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 PCRX at 60.70%. As a Healthcare name, PCRX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to PCRX-specific events.
PCRX 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. PCRX positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move PCRX alongside the broader basket even when PCRX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current PCRX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on PCRX?
- A butterfly on PCRX is the butterfly strategy applied to PCRX (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 PCRX stock trading near $22.80, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed PCRX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are PCRX 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 PCRX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 60.70%), 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 PCRX butterfly?
- The breakeven for the PCRX butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve 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 PCRX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 17.40%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on PCRX?
- Butterflies on PCRX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect PCRX 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 PCRX implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- PCRX ATM IV is at 60.70% with IV rank near 7.02%, 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.