SL Green Realty reports Q2 results today with short sellers unmoved by a week of analyst upgrades — a split that defines the debate heading into the print.
Short interest remains deeply embedded at 14.6% of free float, a level that has barely budged across the past month despite rising roughly 2.8% over that stretch. The borrow market offers no squeeze pressure: availability runs near 199%, meaning nearly two shares remain available to borrow for every one already lent out. Cost to borrow is a negligible 0.77%. The ORTEX short score sits at 72.8 — in the top few percent of the universe — and has edged higher every session this week, signalling that bearish conviction is firming, not fading. Where shorts and lending data diverge is in options: the put/call ratio has dropped to 0.95, more than two standard deviations below its 20-day average of 1.16. That is close to the 52-week low. Options traders, in other words, have pivoted sharply toward calls ahead of the print — the most bullish options posture SLG has seen all year — even as short sellers sit tight.
The analyst community has also moved in force. Morgan Stanley raised its target from $36 to $52 on the day of the report, a 44% lift while staying Equal-Weight. Piper Sandler's Overweight target now reaches $65, the most aggressive on the Street and well above the current $50.12. Barclays and Scotiabank both raised targets too. The consensus mean is $52.50, sitting just above the current price. One voice cut against the tide: Evercore ISI downgraded to In-Line on July 6, nudging its target to $56 while signalling the easy-money move may already be done. Mizuho, at a Neutral $46 target, sits below the market — a reminder that the upgrade wave carries meaningful internal disagreement. The bull case rests on premium-asset leasing velocity, a Midtown supply shortage, and projected NOI growth above 10% for 2027. Bears point to a forecast FFO-per-share decline in 2025, high leasing capital costs, and persistent interest-rate headwinds.
One ownership detail adds texture. CEO Marc Holliday and CFO Matthew Diliberto both sold shares on June 24 — $4.7 million and $949,000 respectively — at $50.65, almost exactly the current price. The 90-day insider net is also a seller, with net disposals totalling roughly $12.4 million. Insider selling at these levels does not necessarily read as bearish given the stock's run from the mid-$30s earlier this year, but it does suggest executives are not rushing to add exposure ahead of the print. Peers moved higher on Tuesday: VNO gained 0.6%, CUZ added 0.9%, and HIW was up 0.3%, while SLG fell 1.4% — a mild underperformance on the session that kept the week's loss at roughly 1.3%.
Tonight's print will test whether occupancy momentum and leasing pipeline data are strong enough to close the gap between the bulls' upgraded targets and the short sellers who, despite everything, have not blinked.
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