GameStop arrives at its July 7 earnings call with options traders back on the bullish side of the ledger — the most sustained shift in that direction since the PCR volatility that defined the final two weeks of June.
The options setup is the clearest read into how the market is leaning. The put/call ratio closed at 0.28 on July 2, near the bottom of its 52-week range of 0.24–0.81 and below the 20-day mean of 0.30. That reading confirms the snap-back documented in the prior report: the two-session defensive spike above 0.40 that closed out June has fully reversed. What's notable is the speed. Every prior PCR spike through June collapsed within one session; this one followed the same pattern, but only after holding for two consecutive days — the longest sustained hedging posture in weeks. The unwinding of that hedge, right at the earnings threshold, puts call positioning back as the dominant signal. The stock has also moved — up 8.6% on the week to $22.82, adding momentum behind the call-heavy lean.
Short interest is elevated but not tightening meaningfully into the print. The short position edged up fractionally to roughly 12.6% of the free float, recovering slightly from last month's unwind that pulled it down about 6% over 30 days. Borrow availability sits at 75.5%, tighter than a week ago but still within a comfortable range — far above the 52-week low of 1.4% that marked last year's genuine squeeze conditions. Borrowing costs remain negligible at 0.75%, up about 20% on the week but still in low-single-digit territory. The ORTEX short score has crept higher to 75.1, its best reading in several sessions, reflecting the combination of elevated SI and tightening availability — but the borrow market is not signalling imminent squeeze pressure.
The fundamental debate has a fixed shape. Bulls point to the 34.5% gross margin — a genuine improvement driven by collectibles, which grew 54.6% year-over-year — and to the $1.5 billion convertible note raise that gives the company optionality. Bears see the structural story more clearly: hardware revenue fell 31.7% year-over-year, software declined 26.7%, and Sony's decision to end physical disc production by 2028 landed this week as a fresh structural headwind. The only active analyst coverage comes from Wedbush, which holds an Underperform rating with a $13.50 target — well below the current price, though that note is over a year old and predates the company's more recent capital markets activity. Ryan Cohen holds 8.5% of shares and bought $21.4 million worth of stock in January at prices around $21, providing a visible cost basis just below current levels.
The July 7 print is therefore less a test of whether GME can grow and more a test of whether the collectibles pivot and gross margin improvement can offset accelerating legacy revenue erosion at a pace that justifies a stock trading more than 60% above the sole analyst's price target.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open GME on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
