STM Butterfly Strategy
STM (STMicroelectronics N.V.), in the Technology sector, (Semiconductors industry), listed on NYSE.
STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments. The Automotive and Discrete Group segment offers automotive integrated circuits (ICs), and discrete and power transistor products. The Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group segment provides industrial application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs); general purpose analog products; custom analog ICs; wireless charging solutions; galvanic isolated gate drivers; low and high voltage amplifiers, comparators, and current-sense amplifiers; MasterGaN, a solution that integrates a silicon driver and GaN power transistors in a single package; wireline and wireless connectivity ICs; touch screen controllers; micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) products, including sensors or actuators; and optical sensing solutions. The Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segment offers general purpose and secure microcontrollers; and radio frequency (RF) products. It also offers application-specific standard products for analog, digital and mixed-signal applications.
STM (STMicroelectronics N.V.) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Semiconductors, with a market capitalization of approximately $56.34B, a trailing P/E of 368.80, a beta of 1.51 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 21.11-63.73, average daily share volume of 9.7M, a public-listing history dating back to 1994, approximately 50K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how STM stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.51 indicates STM has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. The trailing P/E of 368.80 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. STM pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.
What is a butterfly on STM?
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 STM snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $61.55, ATM IV 63.12%, IV rank 84.29%, expected move 18.10%. The butterfly on STM 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 STM specifically: STM IV at 63.12% is rich versus its 1-year range, which makes a premium-buying STM butterfly relatively expensive in absolute-cost terms, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 18.10% (roughly $11.14 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 STM expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on STM should anchor to the underlying notional of $61.55 per share and to the trader's directional view on STM stock.
STM butterfly setup
The STM 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 STM near $61.55, the first option leg uses a $58.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed STM 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 STM shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $58.00 | $6.35 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $62.00 | $4.25 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $65.00 | $3.10 |
STM butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$95.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $291.43
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$95.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $58.95
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 3.068
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.
STM butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on STM. 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% | -$95.00 |
| $13.62 | -77.9% | -$95.00 |
| $27.23 | -55.8% | -$95.00 |
| $40.83 | -33.7% | -$95.00 |
| $54.44 | -11.5% | -$95.00 |
| $68.05 | +10.6% | +$5.00 |
| $81.66 | +32.7% | +$5.00 |
| $95.27 | +54.8% | +$5.00 |
| $108.87 | +76.9% | +$5.00 |
| $122.48 | +99.0% | +$5.00 |
When traders use butterfly on STM
Butterflies on STM are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect STM 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.
STM thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for STM extends from approximately $50.41 on the downside to $72.69 on the upside. A STM long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if STM settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current STM IV rank near 84.29% sits in the upper third of its 1-year distribution, which historically reverts; this raises the bar for premium-buying structures and lowers it for premium-selling structures on STM at 63.12%. As a Technology name, STM options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to STM-specific events.
STM 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. STM positions also carry Technology sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move STM alongside the broader basket even when STM-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current STM chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on STM?
- A butterfly on STM is the butterfly strategy applied to STM (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 STM stock trading near $61.55, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed STM chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are STM 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 STM butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 63.12%), the computed maximum profit is $291.43 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$95.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a STM butterfly?
- The breakeven for the STM butterfly priced on this page is roughly $58.95 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 STM market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 18.10%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on STM?
- Butterflies on STM are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect STM 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 STM implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- STM ATM IV is at 63.12% with IV rank near 84.29%, which is elevated relative to its 1-year range. Premium-selling structures (covered call, cash-secured put, iron condor) generally look more attractive when IV rank is high; premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are more expensive in that regime.