DOC Bulls Still Dominate Options as Q2 Results Drop Today

Healthpeak Properties delivers its Q2 results today with options positioning remaining at a historically bullish extreme — even as the stock has shed another 5% since the prior earnings preview was published.

That bullish options tilt is still the defining feature of the setup. The put/call ratio stands at 0.23 today, barely moved from the 0.231 reading flagged four days ago, and remains nearly 2.4 standard deviations below its 20-day average of 0.39. Call buyers continue to dominate the options market at levels close to the lowest of the past year. What has changed is the price: DOC has fallen from $21.83 to $21.62, down 5.3% on the week, widening the gap between bullish options flow and weak near-term price action. Peers have moved in the same direction — LTC is off 7.2% on the week, SBRA down 7.9%, and VTR lower by 9.2% — suggesting the weakness is sector-wide rather than DOC-specific.

The analyst community gave DOC the benefit of the doubt heading into this print. Wells Fargo lifted its target to $22 on July 15, and UBS raised to $21.50 on July 8, both maintaining neutral-leaning ratings. Mizuho and BMO Capital sit at $24 with Outperform calls. The consensus mean target of $22.39 implies only modest upside from current levels. Bulls point to Healthpeak's diversified ~700-property portfolio and new development projects approximately 80% pre-leased at mid-7% stabilised yields. Bears cite rising lab tenant credit risk, soft Q2 leasing activity, and a projected FFOPS/AFFOPS CAGR of just +1%/-1% through 2027 — a thin margin of error at current multiples. The EV/EBITDA multiple of roughly 15.5x has drifted modestly lower over the past month, offering a small valuation cushion. The company's EPS surprise factor score ranks in the 98th percentile, meaning it has a strong track record of beating estimates.

The borrow market remains entirely relaxed. Availability is deeply loose at over 5,400% — more than fifty shares available for every one currently borrowed — and the cost to borrow has declined nearly 20% over the past month to 0.44%. Short interest, at 3.3% of the float, has actually eased from its mid-July peak above 4%, removing any meaningful squeeze dynamic from the equation. Positioning, on balance, looks bullishly skewed but not crowded on the short side: options traders are leaning hard into a positive outcome, lenders are relaxed, and shorts have been trimming rather than adding.

Today's print is a direct test of whether Healthpeak's same-property NOI trajectory and life science leasing metrics can justify the call-heavy positioning that has held firm through a week of falling prices.