Since yesterday's convergence note flagged the initial short build, SBET has seen every bearish signal move another notch tighter — short interest is now at its highest level in months, the borrow pool has contracted sharply, and the stock is down a further 2.4% to $4.80, extending its one-month loss to 21%.
The short position has grown meaningfully since the previous note. Short interest now stands at 17.7% of free float — up from 16.5% reported just yesterday — representing a 20.7% weekly build and a 40% expansion over the past 30 days. To put the pace in context, SBET carried roughly 24 million shares short through most of May; it now has nearly 35 million. This is not a slow drift higher — shorts have added approximately 10 million shares in three weeks.
The borrow market tells an equally pointed story. Availability has tightened to 52.9% — down 46.6% in a single week and down from above 140% a month ago. That puts roughly one share available for every two already borrowed, a meaningfully tighter lending pool than at any point through May and June. Cost to borrow has more than doubled in the past week to 1.12%, well above the sub-0.55% range that prevailed through most of May. The 52-week availability low reached 8.2%, so there is further room for the pool to compress if demand persists. Options positioning has also shifted more defensive: the put/call ratio has held elevated at 0.37, more than two standard deviations above its 20-day mean, and the pattern has been sustained across three consecutive sessions rather than a single-day spike.
The Street's posture is broadly constructive in rating but increasingly cautious on price. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered its target to $8.10 from $10.50 this week while keeping its Overweight rating — the freshest signal, and telling in its direction. The broader analyst consensus remains bullish on paper, with most active ratings carrying Buy or equivalent, but targets have been steadily trimmed over the past several months. The mean target of $17.81 looks disconnected from the $4.80 price, reflecting a collection of initiations made when the stock traded materially higher. The ORTEX short score has climbed to 71.8, its highest reading in at least ten sessions and in the bottom decile of the universe for short-score rank, signalling that the composite of short metrics has deteriorated further week-on-week.
The earnings record adds context to the bear case. The two most recent prints both produced five-day losses in the mid-teens — minus 15.8% and minus 15.2% respectively — with the one-day reaction also negative in both cases. The next event is scheduled for August 10. That is six weeks away, but with short interest building at this pace and the borrow pool tightening steadily, how availability evolves between now and then is the variable worth watching most closely.
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