Availability for CRML has collapsed to just 3.8%. Only one share remains available to borrow for every 26 already lent out. That is the defining fact about this stock right now.
Availability has dropped 75% in one week. The borrow pool is nearly exhausted. At sub-4% availability, establishing new short positions is extremely difficult — and expensive.
Cost to borrow stands at 21%. That sounds like relief after recent peaks. It hit 95% on July 7. The decline reflects the stock's 39% one-month slide, which reduces the economic value of holding short. But at 21%, the annual carry cost on a short position remains punishing.
The 52-week low for availability is 0.001%. The lending market has been at or near maximum stress repeatedly. This is a stock where the borrow pool vanishes and reappears in short cycles.
SI stands at 19.9% of free float. That is substantial. It has risen 10.5% over the past month. Around 20.9 million shares are short.
The ORTEX short score sits at 78.4. Two weeks ago it was above 83. The score is falling — not because sentiment is improving, but because the stock's sharp decline may be easing some of the pressure metrics. Still, a score near 78 places CRML in extreme short-seller territory.
Factor rankings reinforce the picture. Short score rank is in the 1st percentile. Days-to-cover rank is in the 20th percentile.
The put-call ratio jumped to 0.61 on July 20. The 20-day mean is 0.58. The move is 2.9 standard deviations above that mean. Options traders are adding downside protection at an elevated rate.
The PCR 52-week range runs from 0.11 to 0.81. At 0.61, the current reading is in the upper half — elevated but not at extremes.
Cantor Fitzgerald initiated with a Speculative Buy and an $18 target on July 14. The stock closed at $6.21 on July 20. That implies the analyst sees nearly 190% upside from here. Freedom Broker and Clear Street also carry Buy ratings from earlier initiations.
Sell-side coverage is bullish. The borrow market and the options market tell a different story. Both are pointing the same direction.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open CRML 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.
