Options traders are flooding into calls. Short sellers are covering. Analysts keep raising targets. Nine days before Seagate Technology Holdings reports earnings, three separate data streams are pointing the same direction.
The put/call ratio crashed to 1.52 on July 13. The 20-day mean sits at 2.18. That gap is 2.3 standard deviations below normal — the lowest PCR reading since late June. For months, STX options skewed heavily bearish. That skew is unwinding fast, and it's unwinding into a known catalyst.
The last comparable print the market has to work with: April 28 earnings delivered a 7.96% one-day gain and a 29.4% five-day move. Options positioning now reflects traders pricing in a repeat.
The covering note published July 8 flagged analysts standing firm through the selloff. Since then, the pace has accelerated.
Wells Fargo upgraded STX to Overweight on July 10, raising the target to $1,100 from $900. Citigroup followed on July 13, lifting its target to $1,240 — maintaining its Buy rating. The consensus mean target now stands at $992.74. With the stock at $860.66, that implies roughly 15% upside from current levels.
Six firms have raised targets in the past six weeks. None have cut.
Short interest has fallen sharply. At 3.1% of free float, it is down roughly 20% over the past week and down 27% over the past month. That is a sustained, month-long exit from the short book — not a one-day blip.
The borrow market is sending a small counter-signal. Cost to borrow rose 53% in a week to 0.44%. That level remains low in absolute terms. But the direction is worth watching — it may reflect residual demand from shorts still looking to establish or maintain positions even as the crowd covers. Availability remains extremely loose at 4,121% of shares short, so there is no borrow squeeze in progress.
FMR added 4.3 million shares in the most recent reporting period. Capital Research added 1.2 million. The institutional flow broadly aligns with the analyst and options tone.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open STX 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.
