VERU Butterfly Strategy
VERU (Veru Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Veru Inc., an oncology biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing medicines for the management of cancers. Its commercial products comprise FC2 female condom/internal condom for the dual protection against unintended pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections for ministries of health, government health agencies, U.N. agencies, nonprofit organizations, and commercial partners. The company's development drug candidates include Enobosarm, an oral selective androgen receptor agonist that is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of AR+ ER+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer; Sabizabulin, which is phase IIb clinical trial for the treatment of AR+ ER+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer; Enobosarm + abemaciclib combination therapy, which is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of AR+ ER+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer; and Sabizabulin + enobosarm combination therapy, an oral targeted cytoskeleton disruptor plus selective androgen receptor agonist, which is in phase II clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic triple negative breast cancer. Its drug candidates also comprise Sabizabulin, which is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic castration and androgen receptor targeting agent resistant prostate cancer; VERU-100, a GnRH antagonist peptide injection, which is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of advanced hormone sensitive prostate cancer; Zuclomiphene Citrate, which is in Phase II clinical trial for treating hot flashes; and Sabizabulin, which is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 in subjects at high risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome. In addition, the company is advancing a new drug formulation for the treatment of men with lower urinary tract symptoms from an enlarged prostate. The company was formerly known as The Female Health Company and changed its name to Veru Inc. in July 2017.
VERU (Veru Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $36.3M, a beta of -1.17 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 2.06-7.4, average daily share volume of 55K, a public-listing history dating back to 1999, approximately 210 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how VERU stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of -1.17 indicates VERU 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 VERU?
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 VERU snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $2.12, ATM IV 168.55%, IV rank 26.01%, expected move 48.32%. The butterfly on VERU 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 VERU specifically: VERU IV at 168.55% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a VERU butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 48.32% (roughly $1.02 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 VERU expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on VERU should anchor to the underlying notional of $2.12 per share and to the trader's directional view on VERU stock.
VERU butterfly setup
The VERU 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 VERU near $2.12, the first option leg uses a $2.01 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed VERU 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 VERU shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $2.01 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $2.12 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $2.23 | N/A |
VERU 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.
VERU butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on VERU. 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 VERU
Butterflies on VERU are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect VERU 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.
VERU thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for VERU extends from approximately $1.10 on the downside to $3.14 on the upside. A VERU long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if VERU settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current VERU IV rank near 26.01% 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 VERU at 168.55%. As a Healthcare name, VERU options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to VERU-specific events.
VERU 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. VERU positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move VERU alongside the broader basket even when VERU-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current VERU chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on VERU?
- A butterfly on VERU is the butterfly strategy applied to VERU (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 VERU stock trading near $2.12, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed VERU chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are VERU 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 VERU butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 168.55%), 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 VERU butterfly?
- The breakeven for the VERU 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 VERU market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 48.32%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on VERU?
- Butterflies on VERU are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect VERU 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 VERU implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- VERU ATM IV is at 168.55% with IV rank near 26.01%, 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.