CleanSpark heads into its August 6 earnings report with the two forces that defined its pre-print setup last week now moving in opposite directions — short sellers have continued to reduce exposure, while the stock has recovered ground and the Street is firmly behind it.
The positioning shift since the last article is real and worth naming. Short interest has dropped to 29.5% of free float — around 75.4 million shares — down from 30.3% in the prior note and roughly 11.4% below the June highs near 87 million shares. The direction of travel is consistent: bears have been quietly covering for six weeks. Borrow availability has loosened too, moving to 34% this week from around 21% ten days ago — still tight by any normal standard (only one share available for every three lent out), but the lending market is less constrictive than it was heading into last week's print. Cost to borrow has dropped nearly 20% on the week to 0.58%, reflecting reduced urgency from new short sellers. The options market confirms the calmer mood: the put/call ratio is at 0.49, almost exactly on its 20-day average and a long way from the 2.6-standard-deviation spike flagged in the July 29 note. Protective demand has normalised.
The stock has responded. CLSK is up 5% on the week to $14.17, adding 12% over the past month, even after a 3.3% pullback on August 4. That recovery has come against a mixed backdrop for the peer group — led the sector with a 20% weekly gain, while added 3.3% and ticked up 1.5%. was the notable laggard, down nearly 10% on the day.
The Street has been vocal going into the print. Multiple analysts raised targets over the past two weeks — B. Riley lifted to $26 from $19 on August 3, Keefe Bruyette moved to $25 from $16, and Cantor Fitzgerald went to $26 from $17 in mid-July. The consensus mean target now stands at $23.73, implying roughly 67% upside from current levels. Every recent action has been a raise or a reiterate — no cuts. The bull case rests on CleanSpark's AI and HPC infrastructure push, its $560 million annual revenue run-rate, and a 13,000-bitcoin treasury. Bears flag the stock's negative earnings yield, a P/B multiple that has expanded sharply over the past month to around 75x, and execution risk on securing lucrative leases for the new AI buildout. The short score has edged lower all week to 70.5, ranking in just the 5th percentile — a reading that reflects how structurally elevated short positioning remains despite the covering trend.
The one consistent data pattern from the most recent earnings history is worth noting plainly: the May print produced a 5.1% one-day decline and a 5.4% five-day decline. That was against a backdrop of heavier options defensiveness than today's setup. This time, the stock enters the print higher, bears have reduced, and the Street is more constructive — whether tonight's numbers on hash rate growth, AI lease progress, and operating costs close the gap between the $14.17 price and those $23–$27 targets is the conversation to watch.
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