Fermi Inc. is sending mixed signals. The stock has rallied 40% in a week. Yet short interest is quietly rebuilding. Options traders are firmly in the bull camp — and the gap between where the stock trades and where analysts think it belongs is enormous.
The put-call ratio tells the clearest story right now. At 0.37, it sits at a two-year low. That is 2.3 standard deviations below the 20-day mean of 0.49. Options positioning has rarely been this one-sided in favor of calls over the past two years — the 52-week high PCR was 0.94, more than double the current reading.
This matters because the move happened alongside a 40% weekly price rally. Options traders aren't chasing after the move reluctantly — they were already leaning bullish before the stock broke out, and they've leaned harder since.
Short sellers haven't folded. SI climbed 24% over the past week to 4.6% of free float — roughly 28.3 million shares. That is a meaningful rebuild. But context is important: in mid-May, SI was above 43 million shares before unwinding sharply. The current level is a retracing from a low, not a new peak.
Borrow availability sits at 142%. That is a normal-to-tight level — there is room to borrow, but it has tightened from 278% just five days ago. Shorts building positions into a 40% rally, with availability narrowing, suggests genuine bearish conviction rather than technical noise.
Cost to borrow is barely a factor. At 0.59%, it has fallen 69% over the past month. Shorting FRMI is cheap right now.
The analyst consensus is "buy," with a mean price target of $20.75. The stock trades at $7.88. That gap — 163% implied upside — reflects how far the stock has fallen from where analysts were modeling it earlier this year.
The most recent rating change cuts the other way. Evercore ISI downgraded to In-Line and slashed its target from $20 to $11 in May. UBS has a Buy rating but cut its target from $30 to $8 back in April — a 73% reduction that almost perfectly tracks the stock's decline before the current bounce.
Macquarie remains the most committed bull, holding an Outperform with a $20 target.
James Perry added 16.5 million shares as of June 1, now holding 12.1% of the company. Miles Everson, the CFO, added 5.5 million shares. Both moves came after a cluster of insider selling in April, when the COO, CFO, and other executives sold shares at $4.58–$4.91. The stock has since rallied well above those sale prices.
The largest holder, Toby Neugebauer — whose departure as CEO has been cited as a key risk — trimmed slightly but still controls 28.9% of shares.
Next earnings are due August 14. The last two prints moved the stock 8.5% and -1.6% on day one. With a 40% weekly rally already in the books, positioning into that report — from both the options market and short sellers — will be the key signal to track.
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