RTX Butterfly Strategy
RTX (RTX Corporation), in the Industrials sector, (Aerospace & Defense industry), listed on NYSE.
RTX Corporation, an aerospace and defense company, provides systems and services for the commercial, military, and government customers in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon. The Collins Aerospace Systems segment offers aerospace and defense products, and aftermarket service solutions for civil and military aircraft manufacturers and commercial airlines, as well as regional, business, and general aviation, defense, and commercial space operations. This segment also designs, produces, and supports cabin interior, including oxygen systems, food and beverage preparation, storage and galley systems, and lavatory and wastewater management systems; battlespace, test and training range systems, crew escape systems, and simulation and training solutions; information management services; and aftermarket services that include spare parts, overhaul and repair, engineering and technical support, training and fleet management solutions, and asset and information management services. Its Pratt & Whitney segment supplies aircraft engines for commercial, military, business jet, and general aviation customers; and produces, sells, and services military and commercial auxiliary power units. The Raytheon segment provides defensive and offensive threat detection, tracking, and mitigation capabilities for U.S., foreign government, and commercial customers.
RTX (RTX Corporation) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Aerospace & Defense, with a market capitalization of approximately $239.86B, a trailing P/E of 33.09, a beta of 0.30 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 130.9-214.5, average daily share volume of 5.8M, a public-listing history dating back to 1952, approximately 185K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how RTX stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.30 indicates RTX has historically moved less than the broader market, dampening realized volatility and producing tighter expected-move bands per unit of dollar exposure. RTX pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on RTX?
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 RTX snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $170.89, ATM IV 27.74%, IV rank 48.31%, expected move 7.95%. The butterfly on RTX 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 28-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on RTX specifically: RTX IV at 27.74% 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 7.95% (roughly $13.59 on the underlying). The 28-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated RTX expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on RTX should anchor to the underlying notional of $170.89 per share and to the trader's directional view on RTX stock.
RTX butterfly setup
The RTX 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 RTX near $170.89, the first option leg uses a $160.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed RTX chain at a 28-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 RTX shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $160.00 | $12.98 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $170.00 | $5.55 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $180.00 | $1.93 |
RTX butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$380.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $616.37
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$380.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $163.80, $176.20
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 1.622
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.
RTX butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on RTX. 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.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | -$380.00 |
| $37.79 | -77.9% | -$380.00 |
| $75.58 | -55.8% | -$380.00 |
| $113.36 | -33.7% | -$380.00 |
| $151.14 | -11.6% | -$380.00 |
| $188.93 | +10.6% | -$380.00 |
| $226.71 | +32.7% | -$380.00 |
| $264.50 | +54.8% | -$380.00 |
| $302.28 | +76.9% | -$380.00 |
| $340.06 | +99.0% | -$380.00 |
When traders use butterfly on RTX
Butterflies on RTX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect RTX 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.
RTX thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for RTX extends from approximately $157.30 on the downside to $184.48 on the upside. A RTX long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if RTX settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current RTX IV rank near 48.31% is mid-range against its 1-year distribution, so the IV signal is neutral; the butterfly thesis on RTX should anchor more to the directional view and the expected-move geometry. As a Industrials name, RTX options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to RTX-specific events.
RTX 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. RTX positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move RTX alongside the broader basket even when RTX-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current RTX chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on RTX?
- A butterfly on RTX is the butterfly strategy applied to RTX (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 RTX stock trading near $170.89, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed RTX chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are RTX 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 RTX butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 27.74%), the computed maximum profit is $616.37 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$380.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a RTX butterfly?
- The breakeven for the RTX butterfly priced on this page is roughly $163.80 and $176.20 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 RTX market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 7.95%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on RTX?
- Butterflies on RTX are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect RTX 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 RTX implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- RTX ATM IV is at 27.74% with IV rank near 48.31%, 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.