Matthews International reports this morning with a familiar tension intact: short sellers remain committed, yet options traders are betting on the upside.
Short interest has eased slightly from its recent peak but still runs close to 10% of the free float — elevated enough to keep meaningful pressure on any bullish print. The ORTEX short score holds at 65.3, barely changed over the past two weeks, confirming that bears are sitting on existing positions rather than adding. The borrow market remains no obstacle: availability is running at 433%, meaning there are more than four shares available to lend for every one already shorted, and cost to borrow is a modest 0.53%. That is a relaxed lending environment, and it has been all summer.
The options market is telling a different story. The put/call ratio has dropped to 0.31 — near the lowest reading of the past year and well below its 20-day average of 0.47. Call open interest is clearly dominant heading into the print. The shift is striking in context: as recently as early July, the PCR was running above 1.3, reflecting genuine hedging demand. That defensiveness has unwound almost entirely. The stock is up about 4% over the past month to $27.66, recovering steadily after a weaker spring.
The bull case rests on stabilisation in the core deathcare and memorialization business. A recent ORTEX note flagged that Q3 earnings topped expectations, with stronger-than-anticipated cremation and funeral services demand and early signs of operational improvement after two quarters of margin pressure. BlackRock holds over 14% of shares as the largest institutional holder, and Columbia Management added 144,000 shares as recently as June — a signal that fundamental buyers are still building. The bear case focuses on the longer structural picture: five-year EBIT growth is negative, sales declined nearly 30% year-on-year in recent data, and analyst coverage has been thin and dated — the most recent published price target of $38 dates from late 2024 and should be treated with caution given how much has shifted since.
Today's print will test whether the Q3 beat was a genuine inflection in margins or a one-quarter reprieve in a business still working through structural headwinds.
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