What is a Broken Wing Butterfly?
Updated 3 September 2026 · by Theo Chen
A Broken Wing Butterfly is a Butterfly Spread with one wing deliberately made wider than the other. Same three strikes, same body, same peak — but the skew is what lets you open it for a credit instead of a debit, and it moves all the risk onto one side of the trade.
Want the numbers for your own Broken Wing Butterfly, Put or Call? Enter the three strikes and your net premium for max profit, max loss, the breakeven, and whether one side is genuinely risk-free.
Open the Broken Wing Butterfly Calculator →How is a Broken Wing Butterfly built?
The same 1-2-1 as a regular Butterfly Spread — buy one lower strike, sell two at the body, buy one upper strike — but with the wing widths set unequally. Narrowing one wing cuts what you pay for the protective long on that side, and that's what lets the whole structure open for a net credit. The narrow-wing side then finishes flat at the credit, so there is no risk there; all the defined risk lives on the wider-wing side.
The payoff: a skewed peak, risk on one side only
- Max profit = the narrower wing plus the net credit, reached only if the stock pins the body strike.
- Max loss = the wider wing minus the narrower wing, minus the credit — on the wider-wing side only.
- No-risk side = the side away from the wider wing, when the structure genuinely opens for a credit.
A worked example
A stock trades at $100. You open a bullish Put Broken Wing Butterfly: buy the $90 Put, sell two $100 Puts and buy the $105 Put for a $0.50 net credit. The lower wing is $10 wide; the upper wing is only $5 wide.
- Max profit: ($5 + $0.50) × 100 = $550, if the stock pins $100.
- Max loss: ($10 − $5 − $0.50) × 100 = $450, below $90.
- Breakeven: $94.50 — there is no upside breakeven; above $105 you simply keep the $50 credit.
Buy the $90 Put, sell two $100 Puts, buy the $105 Put for a $0.50 net credit. Profit peaks at $100; max loss $450 below $90; above $105 the $50 credit is simply kept — no upside risk.
Broken Wing Butterfly vs Condor Spread
Same trick, one fewer strike. A Broken Wing Butterfly stacks both short contracts on a single middle strike, giving a profit peak at that one price. A Condor Spread splits those shorts onto two different strikes, turning the peak into a plateau — a wider zone where you keep the maximum, in exchange for a smaller maximum. Both finance a narrow debit spread with a wider credit spread, and both aim to leave one tail with no risk in it.
Read the no-risk side honestly
One side is genuinely risk-free — but that's paid for on the other side, not conjured from nothing. In the worked example above, $450 of defined risk backs a $550 maximum profit that only pays out at a single price. Size the position against the max loss, and don't chase a bigger credit by widening the risk wing without noticing the loss grew with it.
The bottom line
A broken wing butterfly skews one wing wider so the structure can open for a credit and carry risk on only one side - a put version has no upside risk, a call version no downside - but the wider wing is exactly where the whole maximum loss lives.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Broken Wing Butterfly in simple terms?
A Broken Wing Butterfly is a Butterfly Spread with one wing wider than the other: buy one lower strike, sell two at the body, buy one upper strike, all one option type and expiration — but the two wing widths differ. That skew is what lets the whole structure open for a net credit (or a smaller debit), and it puts all the defined risk on the wider-wing side, leaving the other side with no risk at all.
How is a Broken Wing Butterfly different from a regular Butterfly?
A regular Butterfly Spread has equal wings, is opened for a debit, and carries a defined loss on both sides if the stock runs too far in either direction. A Broken Wing Butterfly deliberately makes one wing wider, which usually flips the trade to a net credit and removes the risk on one side entirely — in exchange for a smaller maximum profit than the balanced version.
Why does a credit Broken Wing Butterfly have no risk on one side?
Because the narrower wing costs less to buy than the wider wing collects, and that gap is big enough to fund the whole structure for a net credit. On the side away from the wider wing, every option finishes worthless if the stock moves there, so there is nothing left to lose — you simply keep the credit. The cost of that free side is the defined loss you're carrying on the wider-wing side.
What is the max loss on a Broken Wing Butterfly?
The wider wing minus the narrower wing, minus the net credit collected, times 100 per contract — and it only shows up on the wider-wing side. It is usually larger than the maximum profit, which sits at the body strike and is reached only if the stock pins that exact price at expiration. Size against this number, not the credit.
Put or Call Broken Wing Butterfly — what is the difference?
A Put Broken Wing Butterfly widens the lower wing: it is the bullish version, with no risk to the upside and a defined loss only if the stock falls through the lower wing. A Call Broken Wing Butterfly widens the upper wing instead: the bearish mirror, no risk to the downside, risk only on a rally through the upper wing.
Related questions
- What is a butterfly spread, the equal-wing version?
- What is a condor spread, the four-strike cousin with the same trick?
- What is an iron butterfly, the credit-both-sides version?
- What is a bull put spread, half of this structure?
Related tools and guides
Run your own numbers in the Broken Wing Butterfly Calculator, compare it with the equal-wing Butterfly Spread Calculator, see the four-strike cousin in What Is a Condor Spread?, or build any structure in the Payoff Diagram Builder.
Educational information only — not financial advice. The worked example is a fixed, hypothetical illustration, not a live quote: real fills, four-leg commissions, early assignment and pin risk near the body strike all change the outcome. A Broken Wing Butterfly is defined-risk, but the wider-wing side can reach its full loss.