SNAP surged 14.9% on August 4 and 21.4% on the week. Ten analyst firms updated their targets the same day. None upgraded the stock.
The analyst response after earnings was uniform in direction — and cautious in tone. Mizuho raised its target from $5 to $6. Wells Fargo moved from $5 to $6. Evercore ISI went furthest, lifting to $8 from $7. Truist was the sole dissenter, cutting its target to $7 from $8.
Every firm maintained a neutral or equivalent rating. The consensus stays at Hold, with a mean price target of $7.26. That implies roughly 25% upside from the August 4 close of $5.79 — but the market has been here before with Snap, and analysts have been slow to turn positive.
The bear case is unchanged: ad tool competitiveness, monetisation uncertainty, and the unresolved trajectory of the Perplexity deal all weigh on forward estimates. The bull case rests on AR Spectacles and the company's product innovation track — a longer-dated bet.
Put/call ratio ticked up to 0.25 on August 4. That is 1.3 standard deviations above the 20-day mean. It is below the 3.6 standard deviation spike flagged earlier in the week — but still elevated. Options traders are not abandoning their defensive posture despite the rally.
The 52-week high for the PCR was 0.57. Current positioning is a long way from panic. But the persistence of above-average put demand into a 21% weekly rally is worth noting.
Short interest has continued its post-July-22 decline. It now sits at 5.82% of free float — roughly 85 million shares — down from over 110 million a fortnight ago. That cover is done. The borrow market reflects it: availability stands at 1,554%, meaning there are more than fifteen shares available to borrow for every one currently lent out. Cost to borrow is 0.39%. There is no lending pressure on the remaining short base.
FMR (Fidelity) added 13 million shares in the latest reporting period. BlackRock added 3.4 million. Irenic Capital Management built a 30-million-share position from zero. These are counter-flows to the short cover — institutional buyers stepping in as shorts stepped out.
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