WRBY reported Q2 results on August 6 and fell nearly 10% the following day — the stock's most telling data point this week, and the one that puts every other metric in context.
The earnings reaction lands in a week where the stock had already been grinding lower. WRBY closed Friday at $26.46, down about 6% over the past month and off nearly 2% on the day. That places it roughly 12% below where both co-CEOs were selling stock just five weeks ago, when David Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal each sold multi-million dollar blocks at prices around $29.60–$29.85. Gilboa cleared approximately $7.2m on July 1 alone. The co-founders trimmed near multi-month highs; the stock has drifted lower since. That sequencing is worth noting without reading too much into planned-sale mechanics.
Despite the bearish price action, the short-selling picture is becoming slightly less aggressive. Short interest dipped roughly 2.8% on the week to 16.7% of free float — still elevated in absolute terms, but the direction of travel has been down since late July, when the position peaked near 18.2% of float. The lending market offers no squeeze pressure to explain this moderation: borrow availability is loose at 188% of short interest (meaning nearly two shares remain available to borrow for every one already lent out), and cost to borrow is negligible at 0.55%, barely moved in weeks. Short sellers are not being forced out; they appear to be choosing to reduce. The ORTEX short score has also eased, dropping from 67 at end of July to 64.6 — still elevated but trending lower, suggesting the short thesis is losing some of its structural support.
Options traders are not particularly defensive. The put/call ratio is running at 0.29, barely above its 20-day average of 0.28 and well within one standard deviation of normal. The 52-week PCR has ranged from 0.13 to 3.88, so today's reading sits near the calm end of the spectrum. That contrasts with what you might expect after a 10% post-earnings drop — options positioning simply is not reflecting heightened fear about further downside, at least not yet. The PCR had been drifting modestly higher through July before pulling back this week, so any renewed caution would likely show up here first.
Analyst reaction to the print was mixed in direction but measured in tone. UBS nudged its target up $1 to $28 while holding a Neutral rating — the modest lift suggests the result was not a disaster but not a reassurance either. Citizens trimmed its target by $1 to $29, keeping its Market Outperform. Both moves were filed August 7, within a day of results. The consensus mean target sits near $30.46, roughly 15% above Friday's close. Bank of America initiated with a Buy and a $33 target in late June, before the print; that target now sits well above where the stock traded post-results, implying either a view that the selloff was overdone or a target likely to face revision. The bull case centers on the Google AI glasses partnership, share gains with younger customers, and a long runway in underpenetrated insurance and contact lens verticals. The bear case flags 25+ basis point gross margin compression from occupancy costs and tariffs, plus early-stage execution risk on each of those strategic bets.
The factor score backdrop reinforces the tension. The forward EPS growth rank is in the 99th percentile — the Street expects Warby Parker to grow earnings faster than almost every peer in the universe. But the EPS surprise rank sits in the 11th percentile, meaning the company has a persistent habit of missing estimates even when trajectory looks good. That combination — high expectations, weak delivery track record — is what draws short sellers to a name regardless of the macro story.
The next earnings date is flagged for November 6. Between now and then, the primary things to watch are whether analysts who held targets above $30 into this print lower their estimates after seeing the margin detail, and whether the co-founder sales — which appear to have paused — resume as the lockup calendar allows.
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