UPLD Butterfly Strategy
UPLD (Upland Software, Inc.), in the Technology sector, (Software - Application industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Upland Software, Inc. provides cloud-based enterprise work management software in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. It offers a family of software applications under the Upland brand in the areas of marketing, sales, contact center, project management, information technology, business operations, and human resources and legal. The company also provides professional services, such as implementation, data extraction, integration and configuration, and training services, as well as customer support services. It serves large global corporations, various government agencies, and small and medium-sized businesses, as well as financial, consulting, technology, manufacturing, media, telecommunication, political, healthcare, life sciences, retail and hospitality, and non-profit industries through direct and indirect sales organizations. The company was formerly known as Silverback Enterprise Group, Inc. and changed its name to Upland Software, Inc. in November 2013. Upland Software, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
UPLD (Upland Software, Inc.) trades in the Technology sector, specifically Software - Application, with a market capitalization of approximately $20.2M, a beta of 1.34 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 0.496-3.91, average daily share volume of 375K, a public-listing history dating back to 2014, approximately 998 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how UPLD stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 1.34 indicates UPLD has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position.
What is a butterfly on UPLD?
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 UPLD snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $0.72, ATM IV 26.90%, IV rank 2.00%, expected move 7.71%. The butterfly on UPLD 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 UPLD specifically: UPLD IV at 26.90% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a UPLD butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 7.71% (roughly $0.06 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 UPLD expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on UPLD should anchor to the underlying notional of $0.72 per share and to the trader's directional view on UPLD stock.
UPLD butterfly setup
The UPLD 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 UPLD near $0.72, the first option leg uses a $0.68 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed UPLD 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 UPLD shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $0.68 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $0.72 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $0.76 | N/A |
UPLD 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.
UPLD butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on UPLD. 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 UPLD
Butterflies on UPLD are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect UPLD 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.
UPLD thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for UPLD extends from approximately $0.66 on the downside to $0.78 on the upside. A UPLD long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if UPLD settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current UPLD IV rank near 2.00% 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 UPLD at 26.90%. As a Technology name, UPLD options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to UPLD-specific events.
UPLD 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. UPLD positions also carry Technology sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move UPLD alongside the broader basket even when UPLD-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current UPLD chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on UPLD?
- A butterfly on UPLD is the butterfly strategy applied to UPLD (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 UPLD stock trading near $0.72, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed UPLD chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are UPLD 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 UPLD butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 26.90%), 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 UPLD butterfly?
- The breakeven for the UPLD 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 UPLD market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 7.71%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on UPLD?
- Butterflies on UPLD are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect UPLD 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 UPLD implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- UPLD ATM IV is at 26.90% with IV rank near 2.00%, 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.