ET Bears Capitulate: Short Interest Collapses as Borrow Costs Crater

Why this matters: Short sellers in Energy Transfer LP have cut positions sharply in the past week. The borrow market now signals near-zero demand to short the stock. That shift sits alongside a stock up 3% on the week and $24+ analyst targets from every major firm that has updated since earnings.

The Short Unwind

Short interest dropped 22% in a single week. It now sits at 0.76% of free float — the lowest level in months. At under 1% of float, this is not a high-conviction short thesis unwinding. It is a residual position being abandoned.

The borrow market confirms this. Cost to borrow fell 71% over the past week to just 0.13%. That is the cheapest it has been in recent history. There is no scarcity of supply. Availability stands at 8,119% of short interest — meaning roughly 81 shares are available to borrow for every one currently lent out. Shorts are not being squeezed out. They are simply leaving.

Options Calm Has Returned

Earlier this week, the put/call ratio had climbed to 0.203 — more than two standard deviations above its 20-day mean. That post-earnings defensiveness has faded. The PCR now sits at 0.195, just 1.16 standard deviations above the mean. The 52-week high is 0.31. Hedging demand has normalised.

The prior note from August 8 flagged that investors were "paying for downside protection at a rate they were not before the print." That impulse has largely passed.

The Backdrop

ET is up 3% on the week and 6.6% over the past month to $20.95. The stock has been recovering since the Q2 print on August 4-5, which produced muted single-day moves (+0.3% and +1.7%) but triggered a coordinated wave of analyst target raises — Truist, TD Cowen, Citigroup, and Barclays all raised targets in the days following. The consensus mean target is $24.39, still 16% above the current price.

The short unwind is consistent with that picture. Sentiment has shifted post-earnings. The borrow market is not fighting the tape.

Data Summary

• Short Interest % of FF: 0.76%, down 22% on the week
• Cost to Borrow: 0.13%, down 71% on the week
• Availability: 8,119% of SI (very loose)
• Put/Call Ratio: 0.195, z-score +1.16 (normalising)
• Price: $20.95, +3.0% on the week
• Consensus price target: $24.39 (mean, 5 firms raising post-earnings)
• Next earnings: November 4, 2026