VNDA Butterfly Strategy
VNDA (Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Biotechnology industry), listed on NASDAQ.
Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies to address high unmet medical needs. The company's marketed products include HETLIOZ for the treatment of non-24-hour sleep-wake disorders; and Fanapt oral tablets for the treatment of schizophrenia. Its products under development include HETLIOZ (tasimelteon) for the treatment of jet lag disorder, smith-magenis syndrome, pediatric Non-24, autism spectrum, and delayed sleep phase disorder; Fanapt (iloperidone) for the treatment of bipolar disorder and a long acting injectable formulation program for the treatment of schizophrenia; and Tradipitant (VLY-686), a small molecule neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) antagonist, for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, gastroparesis, and motion sickness. The company's products under development also comprise VTR-297, a small molecule histone deacetylase inhibitor for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and with potential use as a treatment for various oncology indications; VQW-765, a small molecule nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist for the treatment of psychiatric disorders; a portfolio of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator activators and inhibitors for the treatment of dry eye and ocular inflammation, as well as BPO-27 for the treatment of secretory diarrhea disorders, including cholera; and VHX-896, the active metabolite of iloperidone. It markets its products in the United States, Europe, and Israel. Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.
VNDA (Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Biotechnology, with a market capitalization of approximately $386.7M, a beta of 0.65 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 3.81-9.94, average daily share volume of 2.6M, a public-listing history dating back to 2006, approximately 368 full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how VNDA stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.65 indicates VNDA 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 VNDA?
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 VNDA snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $6.30, ATM IV 59.80%, IV rank 26.54%, expected move 17.14%. The butterfly on VNDA 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 VNDA specifically: VNDA IV at 59.80% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a VNDA butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 17.14% (roughly $1.08 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 VNDA expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on VNDA should anchor to the underlying notional of $6.30 per share and to the trader's directional view on VNDA stock.
VNDA butterfly setup
The VNDA 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 VNDA near $6.30, the first option leg uses a $5.98 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed VNDA 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 VNDA shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $5.98 | N/A |
| Sell 2 | Call | $6.30 | N/A |
| Buy 1 | Call | $6.62 | N/A |
VNDA 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.
VNDA butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on VNDA. 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 VNDA
Butterflies on VNDA are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect VNDA 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.
VNDA thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for VNDA extends from approximately $5.22 on the downside to $7.38 on the upside. A VNDA long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if VNDA settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current VNDA IV rank near 26.54% 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 VNDA at 59.80%. As a Healthcare name, VNDA options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to VNDA-specific events.
VNDA 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. VNDA positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move VNDA alongside the broader basket even when VNDA-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current VNDA chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on VNDA?
- A butterfly on VNDA is the butterfly strategy applied to VNDA (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 VNDA stock trading near $6.30, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed VNDA chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are VNDA 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 VNDA butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 59.80%), 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 VNDA butterfly?
- The breakeven for the VNDA 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 VNDA market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 17.14%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on VNDA?
- Butterflies on VNDA are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect VNDA 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 VNDA implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- VNDA ATM IV is at 59.80% with IV rank near 26.54%, 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.