PCVX Butterfly Strategy
PCVX (Vaxcyte, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Vaxcyte, Inc. is a biotechnology firm in the clinical development stage, dedicated to creating innovative protein-based vaccines. Its primary objective is to either prevent or manage bacterial infectious diseases. The company's leading vaccine candidate is VAX-24, an experimental 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine currently undergoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials, intended to address invasive pneumococcal disease and pneumonia. Beyond its flagship candidate, Vaxcyte is also advancing several other vaccine programs: VAX-XP, designed to offer protection against emergent bacterial strains and counter antimicrobial resistance; VAX-A1, a conjugate vaccine formulation aimed at Group A Streptococcus; and VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine specifically developed to target the key pathogen responsible for periodontitis. The organization, which was initially established as SutroVax, Inc., officially rebranded as Vaxcyte, Inc. in May 2020. Founded in 2013, its corporate headquarters are situated in San Carlos, California.
PCVX (Vaxcyte, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $8.16B, a beta of 1.24 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 29.08-65, average daily share volume of 1.6M, a public-listing history dating back to 2020, approximately 414 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how PCVX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.24 places PCVX roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a butterfly on PCVX?
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 PCVX snapshot
As of June 30, 2026, spot at $58.69, ATM IV 58.60%, IV rank 15.33%, expected move 16.80%. The butterfly on PCVX 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 17-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on PCVX specifically: PCVX IV at 58.60% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a PCVX butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 16.80% (roughly $9.86 on the underlying). The 17-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated PCVX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on PCVX should anchor to the underlying notional of $58.69 per share and to the trader's directional view on PCVX stock.
PCVX butterfly setup
The PCVX 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 PCVX near $58.69, the first option leg uses a $55.76 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed PCVX chain at a 17-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 PCVX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $55.76 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $58.69 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $61.62 | N/A |
PCVX 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.
PCVX butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on PCVX. 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 PCVX
Butterflies on PCVX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect PCVX 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.
PCVX thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for PCVX extends from approximately $48.83 on the downside to $68.55 on the upside. A PCVX long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if PCVX settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current PCVX IV rank near 15.33% 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 PCVX at 58.60%. As a Healthcare name, PCVX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to PCVX-specific events.
PCVX 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. PCVX positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move PCVX alongside the broader basket even when PCVX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current PCVX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on PCVX?
- A butterfly on PCVX is the butterfly strategy applied to PCVX (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 PCVX stock trading near $58.69, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed PCVX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are PCVX 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 PCVX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 58.60%), 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 PCVX butterfly?
- The breakeven for the PCVX 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 PCVX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 16.80%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on PCVX?
- Butterflies on PCVX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect PCVX 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 PCVX implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- PCVX ATM IV is at 58.60% with IV rank near 15.33%, 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.