SUPN Butterfly Strategy
SUPN (Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of products for the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) diseases in the United States. Its commercial products are Trokendi XR, an extended release topiramate product indicated for the treatment of epilepsy, as well as for the prophylaxis of migraine headache; and Oxtellar XR, an extended release oxcarbazepine for the monotherapy treatment of partial onset epilepsy seizures in adults and children between 6 to 17 years of age. The company's commercial products also comprise Qelbree, a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor indicated for the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in pediatric patients 6 to 17 years of age; APOKYN for the acute intermittent treatment of hypomobility or off episodes in patients with advanced Parkinson's Disease (PD); XADAGO for treating levodopa/carbidopa in patients with PD experiencing off episodes; MYOBLOC, a Type B toxin product indicated for the treatment of cervical dystonia and sialorrhea in adults; GOCOVRI for the treatment of dyskinesia in patients with PD; and Osmolex ER for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and drug-induced extrapyramidal reaction in adult patients. In addition, its product candidates include Qelbree (SPN-812), which has completed Phase III clinical trials that is used for the treatment of ADHD; SPN-830, a late-stage drug/device combination product candidate for the prevention of off episodes in PD patients; SPN-817, a novel product candidate in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of severe epilepsy; SPN-820, a product candidate in Phase II clinical trials for treating resistant depression; and SPN-443 and SPN-446, which are in preclinical stage for treating CNS. The company markets and sells its products through pharmaceutical wholesalers, specialty pharmacies, and distributors. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.
SUPN (Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.98B, a beta of 0.57 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 30.83-59.68, average daily share volume of 734K, a public-listing history dating back to 2012, approximately 674 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how SUPN stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.57 indicates SUPN 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 SUPN?
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 SUPN snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $49.35, ATM IV 39.80%, IV rank 5.24%, expected move 11.41%. The butterfly on SUPN 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 SUPN specifically: SUPN IV at 39.80% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a SUPN butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 11.41% (roughly $5.63 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 SUPN expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on SUPN should anchor to the underlying notional of $49.35 per share and to the trader's directional view on SUPN stock.
SUPN butterfly setup
The SUPN 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 SUPN near $49.35, the first option leg uses a $47.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed SUPN 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 SUPN shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $47.00 | $5.00 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $49.00 | $2.90 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $50.00 | $2.33 |
SUPN butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$152.50
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $36.80
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$152.50
- Breakeven(s)
- $48.53
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 0.241
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.
SUPN butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on SUPN. 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% | -$152.50 |
| $10.92 | -77.9% | -$152.50 |
| $21.83 | -55.8% | -$152.50 |
| $32.74 | -33.7% | -$152.50 |
| $43.65 | -11.5% | -$152.50 |
| $54.56 | +10.6% | -$52.50 |
| $65.47 | +32.7% | -$52.50 |
| $76.38 | +54.8% | -$52.50 |
| $87.29 | +76.9% | -$52.50 |
| $98.20 | +99.0% | -$52.50 |
When traders use butterfly on SUPN
Butterflies on SUPN are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect SUPN 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.
SUPN thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for SUPN extends from approximately $43.72 on the downside to $54.98 on the upside. A SUPN long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if SUPN settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current SUPN IV rank near 5.24% 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 SUPN at 39.80%. As a Healthcare name, SUPN options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to SUPN-specific events.
SUPN 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. SUPN positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move SUPN alongside the broader basket even when SUPN-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current SUPN chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on SUPN?
- A butterfly on SUPN is the butterfly strategy applied to SUPN (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 SUPN stock trading near $49.35, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed SUPN chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are SUPN 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 SUPN butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 39.80%), the computed maximum profit is $36.80 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$152.50 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a SUPN butterfly?
- The breakeven for the SUPN butterfly priced on this page is roughly $48.53 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 SUPN market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 11.41%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on SUPN?
- Butterflies on SUPN are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect SUPN 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 SUPN implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- SUPN ATM IV is at 39.80% with IV rank near 5.24%, 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.