QDEL Butterfly Strategy
QDEL (QuidelOrtho Corporation), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Instruments & Supplies industry), listed on NASDAQ.
QuidelOrtho Corporation specializes in the creation and production of diagnostic testing solutions, addressing a wide array of healthcare testing demands. The company operates through distinct business units. Its Labs division provides clinical chemistry and immunoassay instruments and tests designed to analyze bodily fluids and proteins, aiding in health assessment, patient management, and tracking disease progression. The Transfusion Medicine unit focuses on ensuring blood safety and compatibility by offering immunohematology and infectious disease screening tests for blood and plasma. For rapid results in various clinical environments, the Point-of-Care segment delivers quick diagnostic tests. Additionally, the Molecular Diagnostics arm develops advanced polymerase chain reaction thermocyclers, analyzers, and amplification systems.
QDEL (QuidelOrtho Corporation) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Instruments & Supplies, with a market capitalization of approximately $975.1M, a beta of 0.69 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 9.92-35.58, average daily share volume of 2.0M, a public-listing history dating back to 1991, approximately 7K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how QDEL stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.69 indicates QDEL has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure.
What is a butterfly on QDEL?
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.
QDEL snapshot
As of August 14, 2026, spot at $14.13, ATM IV 72.10%, IV rank 17.82%, expected move 20.67%. The butterfly on QDEL below is built from the August 14, 2026 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 QDEL specifically: QDEL IV at 72.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a QDEL butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 20.67% (roughly $2.92 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 QDEL expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on QDEL should anchor to the underlying notional of $14.13 per share and to the trader's directional view on QDEL stock.
QDEL butterfly setup
The QDEL butterfly below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With QDEL at $14.13 on that close, the first option leg uses a $13.42 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed QDEL 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 QDEL shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $13.42 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $14.13 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $14.84 | N/A |
QDEL 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.
QDEL butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on QDEL. 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 QDEL
Butterflies on QDEL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect QDEL 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.
QDEL thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for QDEL extends from approximately $11.21 on the downside to $17.05 on the upside. A QDEL long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if QDEL settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current QDEL IV rank near 17.82% 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 QDEL at 72.10%. As a Healthcare name, QDEL options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to QDEL-specific events.
QDEL 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. QDEL positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move QDEL alongside the broader basket even when QDEL-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current QDEL chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on QDEL?
- A butterfly on QDEL is the butterfly strategy applied to QDEL (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 QDEL stock at $14.13 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed QDEL chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
- How are QDEL 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 QDEL butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 72.10%), 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 QDEL butterfly?
- The breakeven for the QDEL butterfly priced on this page is no defined breakeven on the modeled curve at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 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 QDEL market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 20.67%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on QDEL?
- Butterflies on QDEL are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect QDEL 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 QDEL implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- QDEL ATM IV is at 72.10% with IV rank near 17.82%, 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.