SLBT is a micro-cap Nasdaq name where the lending market has become the dominant story, with borrowing costs running near 900% annually while the stock whipsaws 40% in a single session.
The borrow picture here is extraordinary. Cost to borrow has exploded from just 11.5% on June 15 to 856% by June 30 — a roughly 75-fold increase in two weeks. The move peaked briefly at 952% on June 29 before easing slightly. Availability has loosened recently, jumping from a tight 63% on June 23 to 267% by June 30, meaning there are now roughly 2.6 shares available for every one already borrowed. That's a notable reversal — the borrow pool expanded sharply in the final days of the month. Days to cover sits at just one day, and the official short share count is a modest 13,730 shares, unchanged across the available history. Short interest as a percentage of float is not calculable from available data, which limits the usual framing, but the borrow cost alone signals that any positioned short is paying a severe daily carry.
The price action amplifies the story. SLBT closed at $4.79 on June 30, up 41% on the day and 21% on the week, yet down 50% over the prior month. That month-long decay followed by a sharp two-day snapback is a pattern common to micro-cap names under heavy short pressure — brief, violent reversals punctuated by sustained drawdowns. No earnings events are scheduled, and no analyst coverage or institutional ownership data is available, which means price discovery here is driven almost entirely by supply-demand dynamics in a very thin float.
The key tension heading into next week is whether the sudden loosening of borrow availability — tripling in one week — signals that new shares entered the lending pool or that short sellers are actively covering and returning borrowed stock. The borrow cost, though still extreme, eased from its peak on June 29. Both the direction of CTB from here and whether availability continues to expand or snaps back tighter will define how the next leg of price action unfolds.
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