CleanSpark enters the final week of June carrying one of the highest short burdens in the crypto mining sector — and this week, options traders just added a fresh layer of defensive hedging on top of it.
The options market is flashing its most cautious signal in months. The put/call ratio jumped to 0.51 on Tuesday, more than 3.5 standard deviations above its 20-day average of 0.41 — a reading that ranks near the 52-week high of 0.61. That kind of z-score is unusual; it signals that demand for downside protection has spiked sharply relative to the call activity that had dominated positioning through most of May and early June. The stock itself has barely moved on the week, down just 0.4% to $17.19, even as close peer RIOT gained 4.8% and CIFR added 6.2%. That relative flatness, combined with the put skew, suggests investors are hedging rather than chasing.
Short positioning remains extreme, but the directional story is nuanced. Short interest holds at 31.9% of the free float — roughly 81.6 million shares — up 0.45% on the week yet down nearly 7% from the month-ago peak above 88 million shares. Bears have been gradually reducing exposure since mid-May, when short interest touched its recent high near 91 million shares. The borrow market tells a parallel story: availability has loosened considerably from the extremely tight sub-15% readings seen throughout May, now running near 34%. Cost to borrow remains low at 0.63%, up 14% on the week but still well within normal territory. This is a heavily shorted name where the squeeze pressure has actually eased — availability is far from the zero-percent floor the lending pool hit in mid-May, and borrowing costs give no signal of imminent tightness. The ORTEX short score of 71.3 keeps CLSK in the bottom decile of the universe by that measure, a persistent flag that the positioning backdrop remains hostile.
The Street is broadly constructive, and fresh analyst activity this week sharpened that picture. Citizens initiated coverage today with a Market Outperform rating and a $27 target — the most aggressive on the sheet. That follows a string of target raises in May from Macquarie (to $22), Maxim Group (to $22), and Needham (to $18), all after the last earnings print. The consensus sits at Buy with a mean target of $21.12, implying roughly 23% upside from current levels. The bull case centres on CleanSpark's pivot toward AI and HPC infrastructure alongside its Bitcoin mining base, with supporters arguing the company's power-acquisition expertise translates directly into the data centre buildout opportunity. Bears point to Bitcoin price sensitivity, the dilutive funding structure — CleanSpark raised $1.15 billion in convertible notes for its AI buildout — and execution risk on the infrastructure transition. The price-to-book multiple has expanded sharply, rising more than 15 points over the past month to 50.7x, reflecting how much of the AI optionality is already priced in at current levels.
Institutional ownership data shows Dimensional Fund Advisors added over 6.3 million shares in a recent filing, making it the second-largest holder at 5.5% of shares. Situational Awareness LP and Vanguard entities each reported new positions of over 11 million shares as of March. These are meaningful new commitments. Against that, the May insider activity was routine rather than alarming — the CEO, CFO, CTO, and EVP all sold small parcels on May 14 following award grants the prior day, with the CEO's sale totalling around $126,000. The 90-day net insider position is modestly positive at roughly 189,000 shares, so there is no aggressive distribution signal from the inside.
Earnings are next due August 7. The most recent print on May 11 sent the stock down 5.1% that day and 5.4% over the subsequent five sessions. With short interest still at 32% of float and options positioning now at a multi-month defensive extreme, how that print lands — and whether the AI infrastructure narrative shows early revenue — is the central question for the weeks ahead.
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