RCUS Butterfly Strategy
RCUS (Arcus Biosciences, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NYSE.
Arcus Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes cancer therapies in the United States. Its product pipeline includes, Etrumadenant, a dual A2a/A2b adenosine receptor antagonist, which is in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial; and Zimberelimab, an anti-PD-1 antibody that is in Phase 1b clinical trial for monotherapy. The company also develops Domvanalimab, an anti-TIGIT monoclonal antibody, which is in Phase 2 development for the treatment of first-line metastatic non-small cell lung cancer in combination with Zimberelimab; Quemliclustat, a small-molecule CD73 inhibitor is in a Phase 1/1b study for the treatment of first-line metastatic pancreatic cancer; and AB521, an oral and small molecule HIF-2a inhibitor that is in Phase 1 study for the treatment of patients with von Hippel- Lindau disease. It has a clinical development collaboration agreement with Strata Oncology, Inc. to evaluate Zimberelimab; a collaboration with AstraZeneca, BVF Partners L.P to evaluate domvanalimab, its investigational anti-TIGIT antibody, in combination with Imfinzi (durvalumab) in a registrational Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with unresectable Stage III non-small cell lung cancer; and license agreements with Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Abmuno Therapeutics LLC, and WuXi Biologics to develop anti-CD39 antibody for the treatment of cancer. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in Hayward, California.
RCUS (Arcus Biosciences, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.52B, a beta of 0.87 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 7.91-28.72, average daily share volume of 1.3M, a public-listing history dating back to 2018, approximately 627 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how RCUS stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.87 places RCUS roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline.
What is a butterfly on RCUS?
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 RCUS snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $23.83, ATM IV 64.50%, IV rank 10.71%, expected move 18.49%. The butterfly on RCUS 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 RCUS specifically: RCUS IV at 64.50% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a RCUS butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 18.49% (roughly $4.41 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 RCUS expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on RCUS should anchor to the underlying notional of $23.83 per share and to the trader's directional view on RCUS stock.
RCUS butterfly setup
The RCUS 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 RCUS near $23.83, the first option leg uses a $22.64 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed RCUS 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 RCUS shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $22.64 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $23.83 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $25.02 | N/A |
RCUS 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.
RCUS butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on RCUS. 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 RCUS
Butterflies on RCUS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect RCUS 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.
RCUS thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for RCUS extends from approximately $19.42 on the downside to $28.24 on the upside. A RCUS long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if RCUS settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current RCUS IV rank near 10.71% 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 RCUS at 64.50%. As a Healthcare name, RCUS options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to RCUS-specific events.
RCUS 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. RCUS positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move RCUS alongside the broader basket even when RCUS-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current RCUS chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on RCUS?
- A butterfly on RCUS is the butterfly strategy applied to RCUS (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 RCUS stock trading near $23.83, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed RCUS chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are RCUS 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 RCUS butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 64.50%), 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 RCUS butterfly?
- The breakeven for the RCUS 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 RCUS market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 18.49%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on RCUS?
- Butterflies on RCUS are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect RCUS 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 RCUS implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- RCUS ATM IV is at 64.50% with IV rank near 10.71%, 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.