How are URI 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 URI butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 30.10%), the computed maximum profit is $4,135.24 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$1,560.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.

What is the breakeven for a URI butterfly?

The breakeven for the URI butterfly priced on this page is roughly $1,105.60 and $1,194.40 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The URI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 8.63%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.

How does current URI implied volatility affect this butterfly?

URI ATM IV is at 30.10% with IV rank near 13.60%, 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.

URI Butterfly Strategy

URI (United Rentals, Inc.), in the Industrials sector, (Rental & Leasing Services industry), listed on NYSE.

United Rentals, Inc., founded in 1997 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, functions as a prominent equipment rental firm through its various subsidiaries. The company's operations are divided into two main divisions: General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment offers a broad selection of construction and industrial machinery, including heavy equipment like backhoes, skid-steer loaders, earthmoving machinery, and forklifts, alongside aerial work platforms such as boom and scissor lifts. This division also provides general tools and lighter equipment, ranging from pressure washers to power tools. Its client base is diverse, encompassing construction and industrial enterprises, manufacturers, utility companies, municipalities, government bodies, and individual homeowners. Conversely, the Specialty segment focuses on more specialized construction products.

URI (United Rentals, Inc.) trades in the Industrials sector, specifically Rental & Leasing Services, with a market capitalization of approximately $70.29B, a trailing P/E of 27.14, a beta of 1.80 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 701.59-1179.18, average daily share volume of 527K, a public-listing history dating back to 1997, approximately 29K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how URI stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.

A beta of 1.80 indicates URI has historically moved more than the broader market, amplifying both the directional payoff and the realized volatility relative to an index-equivalent position. URI pays a dividend, which adjusts put-call parity and shifts the ex-dividend pricing across the listed chain.

What is a butterfly on URI?

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.

URI snapshot

As of August 14, 2026, spot at $1,152.74, ATM IV 30.10%, IV rank 13.60%, expected move 8.63%. The butterfly on URI below is built from the August 14, 2026 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 URI specifically: URI IV at 30.10% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a URI butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 8.63% (roughly $99.47 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 URI expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on URI should anchor to the underlying notional of $1,152.74 per share and to the trader's directional view on URI stock.

URI butterfly setup

The URI butterfly below is built from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With URI at $1,152.74 on that close, the first option leg uses a $1,100.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed URI 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 URI shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).

Action	Type	Strike / Basis	Premium (est)
Buy 1	Call	$1,100.00	$72.00
Sell 2	Call	$1,150.00	$41.95
Buy 1	Call	$1,210.00	$17.50

URI butterfly risk and reward

Net Premium / Debit: -$560.00
Max Profit (per contract): $4,135.24
Max Loss (per contract): -$1,560.00
Breakeven(s): $1,105.60, $1,194.40
Risk / Reward Ratio: 2.651

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.

URI butterfly payoff curve

Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on URI. 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.

P&L at expiration across the modeled underlying-price range. Green shading marks profitable regions, red shading marks loss regions. Dotted purple verticals mark breakevens; the solid dark vertical marks current spot.

Underlying Price	% From Spot	P&L at Expiration
$0.01	-100.0%	-$560.00
$254.89	-77.9%	-$560.00
$509.76	-55.8%	-$560.00
$764.64	-33.7%	-$560.00
$1,019.51	-11.6%	-$560.00
$1,274.39	+10.6%	-$1,560.00
$1,529.27	+32.7%	-$1,560.00
$1,784.14	+54.8%	-$1,560.00
$2,039.02	+76.9%	-$1,560.00
$2,293.89	+99.0%	-$1,560.00

When traders use butterfly on URI

Butterflies on URI are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect URI 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.

URI thesis for this butterfly

The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for URI extends from approximately $1,053.27 on the downside to $1,252.21 on the upside. A URI long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if URI settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current URI IV rank near 13.60% 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 URI at 30.10%. As a Industrials name, URI options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to URI-specific events.

URI 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. URI positions also carry Industrials sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move URI alongside the broader basket even when URI-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current URI chain quotes before placing a trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is a butterfly on URI?: A butterfly on URI is the butterfly strategy applied to URI (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 URI stock at $1,152.74 on the August 14, 2026 close, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed URI chain strike and the premiums come straight from that session's bid/ask midpoint.
How are URI 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 URI butterfly priced from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 30.10%), the computed maximum profit is $4,135.24 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$1,560.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
What is the breakeven for a URI butterfly?: The breakeven for the URI butterfly priced on this page is roughly $1,105.60 and $1,194.40 at expiration, derived from the August 14, 2026 end-of-day chain's premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The URI market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move in the same options snapshot is approximately 8.63%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
When should you consider a butterfly on URI?: Butterflies on URI are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect URI 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 URI implied volatility affect this butterfly?: URI ATM IV is at 30.10% with IV rank near 13.60%, 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.