AAPL grabbed the headlines as short interest exploded 130% in a week to 107,942 shares. Energy names BP and BTI also drew heavy short attention. Borrow markets tightened sharply across several smaller names, with BOT and BLSH seeing costs breach triple digits.
AAPL — Short interest surged 130% week-on-week to 107,942 shares. A single-day jump of 34% on July 2 stands out. The move is sharp and bears watching for follow-through.
BP — SI jumped 88% to 16.4M shares as of July 2. Cost to borrow fell 34% to just 0.32%. Shorts are building positions cheaply. Borrow remains abundant.
— Short interest climbed 39% to roughly 6.0M shares. Cost to borrow rose 38% to 0.58%. Availability sits at 1,390% of SI — no squeeze risk near-term.
TM — SI rose 33% in a week to 1.0M shares. Cost to borrow jumped 63% to 1.62%. Borrow is tightening as shorts pile in. A convergence signal flagged further pressure.
BOT — The standout borrow story this week. SI surged 94% to 1.66M shares. Cost to borrow hit 65.6%. Availability collapsed to 23% — the tightest level in a year. A convergence confirmed borrow costs breached 100%.
PRGO — SI up 26.4% to 13.5% of free float. Activist short pressure drove the move even as the stock rebounded 13.8%. Bears are not backing down.
HDB — The week's largest SI unwind. Short interest fell 34% to 14.9M shares. The stock rose 1.6% on the week.
IONQ — SI dropped 24.8% to 12.1% of free float. Availability surged 62%. The borrow squeeze that gripped IONQ in late June is easing.
All 1,172 pulses this week fell into the broad "Unknown" GICS bucket — meaning sector-level clustering cannot be confirmed from this data alone.
That said, several patterns stand out by theme.
Energy shorts building. BP and BTI both saw large week-on-week SI increases. TTE also appeared in the pulse universe. Borrow remains cheap across these names, suggesting shorts face little friction.
Semis and tech under pressure. AAPL, SOXQ, and NBIS all registered notable short activity. A convergence flagged AMAT after a 7% price drop, with options signalling caution. SOXQ shorts dug in further as borrow tightened.
Small-cap borrow stress. BLSH cost to borrow surged 561%. SOC borrow cost jumped 443% with an analyst target cut to $15. PLBL hit 244% CTB as the lending pool drained. These are illiquid names where positioning shifts fast.
Multiple tickers this week saw short interest, borrow costs, options, and analyst signals converge simultaneously.
AMAT — Options flagged caution after a 7% drop. Worth monitoring for further SI builds.
TM — Borrow tightened sharply after a week of heavy shorting. Both the SI pulse and a dedicated convergence fired on the same name.
IONQ — Two convergence signals in the period. Borrow eased as shorts covered, but the signals suggest the situation remains fluid.
BOT — Convergence confirmed borrow costs breached 100% as short sellers piled in. Availability at 23% leaves little room for further builds without a cost spike.
ASTS — Borrow eased slightly, but shorts remain dug in. No clear unwind yet.
EOSE — Borrow market dried up as the stock slid 42%. Availability near zero. High-stress signal.
SOC — Two separate convergences fired. Options flipped bullish even as shorts sit trapped in a seized borrow market. Analyst cut the target to $15.
BLSH — Cost to borrow surged 561%. One of the most extreme borrow moves in the week's dataset.
HTZ — Borrow pool frozen. CTB up 489%. Options at a 52-week bullish extreme. A rare three-way convergence.
FLR — Truist lifted its price target while shorts continued pressing the stock lower. Bulls and bears in direct conflict.
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.
