Coeur Mining just lived through one of its most turbulent short-selling episodes in recent memory. Short interest spiked to nearly 18% of free float on June 26 — more than double the prior week — then collapsed back below 8% within days. Now options traders are flagging unease even as the stock climbs.
The numbers tell a clean story. On June 22, roughly 94 million shares were shorted. By June 26, that had ballooned to 114 million. Then came the unwind. By July 1, the figure had fallen to 46 million — a drop of 60% in one week.
Availability tells the same story in reverse. As short sellers piled in during the week of June 23, availability compressed to around 355% — tight relative to CDE's normal range. The covering wave that followed flushed the lending market wide open. Availability now sits at 1,901% — the loosest it has been in months, well above the 52-week floor of 305%.
The short score reflects the shift. It peaked at 57.4 on June 23 and has since retreated to 36.0 — back in line with where it sat before the squeeze began.
The stock gained 4.6% on July 2 and is up 8.2% on the week. But the options market is not celebrating.
The put-call ratio jumped to 0.44 on July 2 — the highest reading since late May. Against a 20-day average of 0.35, the z-score is 3.56. That's a statistically rare level of put demand. Traders are buying downside protection into a rally, not chasing it.
The PCR 52-week range runs from 0.22 to 0.55. At 0.44, it sits firmly in the upper half — closer to peak fear than complacency.
Scotiabank reinstated coverage on June 12 with a Sector Outperform and a $27.50 target. Canaccord Genuity upgraded CDE to Buy in April. The consensus sits at Buy, with a mean price target of $28.15. The stock closed at $17.30 on July 2 — implying over 60% upside to the analyst consensus.
Institutions have been adding. BlackRock added 31.5 million shares in its most recent filing, lifting its stake to 101.8 million shares. Van Eck added 19.5 million. FMR added 16.5 million. The buying across major holders is broad-based.
Next earnings are due August 5.
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