BULL reports Q2 2026 results on August 19 against a backdrop where short sellers have quietly built a meaningful position — yet options traders are showing almost no concern about the outcome.
Short interest has climbed roughly 22% over the past month to 6.4% of the free float, a level that warrants genuine attention for a stock this size. The build has been gradual rather than panicked: shares short rose from around 22 million in early July to nearly 27 million by mid-August, with the sharpest step-change arriving in the week of July 21 when the position jumped by roughly 2.3 million shares in a single session. Borrow costs remain low at 0.44% — cheap enough that shorts are not under meaningful pressure — and availability, at 353%, is well above the level where squeeze dynamics typically emerge. The 52-week low in availability was near zero, which puts the current reading in perspective: there is plenty of supply in the lending pool for new shorts to build further.
Options positioning tells a different story from the short book. The put/call ratio is running at 0.15, essentially flat with its 20-day average of 0.16 and well below the 52-week high of 0.58. That means call volume is overwhelmingly dominant — investors with options exposure are positioned for upside, not hedging into the print. The contrast between a rising short position and call-heavy options flow creates genuine tension in the setup. The stock has reinforced the options bulls' case recently, gaining 12% over the past week and the same over the past month to close at $8.16, outperforming most close peers: fell 3% on the week and dropped 4.5%, while eased 3.8%. and were the outliers in the peer group, both moving sharply higher.
Coverage remains thin — Rosenblatt is the only firm actively following the stock, and analyst Chris Brendler lifted his target to $13 in mid-July, implying roughly 60% upside from current levels. The bull case rests on Webull's strong Q3 2025 momentum: revenues rose 55% year-over-year to $156.9 million, with trading revenues up 56% and adjusted operating margins near 23%. Bears point to the stock's dependency on transaction volume, which proved fragile when crypto trading slowed and Q4 estimates were cut 30%. EPS momentum scores are strong over both 30 and 90 days — ranking in the 86th and 80th percentiles respectively — suggesting analysts have been revising estimates higher heading into the print. Against that, the quality picture remains weak, and the prior earnings event in May produced a one-day decline of nearly 12% and a five-day loss of around 9%.
The August 19 print is therefore a test of whether Webull's trading-revenue engine has sustained its momentum into Q2 — and whether the margin structure that impressed in Q3 2025 held up against a more volatile market environment for retail platforms.
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