The short exit in DigitalOcean that began after earnings has continued without pause. SI is now 8.8% of the free float — down from above 11% in mid-July. The options market remains historically skewed toward calls. Both trends have strengthened since the last note six days ago.
Short interest has fallen another 10% this week, to roughly 8.0 million shares. That is a 24% decline over the past month. The pace has not slowed. Since late July, when SI stood near 11.5 million shares, covering has been consistent across every session in the data.
The borrow market offers no resistance. Availability sits at 1,173% — meaning more than eleven shares are lendable for every one currently borrowed. Cost to borrow is 0.44%, down 52% over the past week. There is no shortage of supply. Shorts are exiting by choice.
The ORTEX short score has tracked the unwind. It has dropped from 48.6 on August 4 to 45.5 today — a steady drift lower, not a sudden shift.
The put/call ratio printed 0.699 on August 17. The 20-day mean is 0.810. That reading is 3.2 standard deviations below average — an extreme that has persisted since at least mid-week last week. It sits near the lower end of the 52-week range (0.310–0.965).
This is not a new development. The previous note flagged a 0.64 PCR reading on August 12. The ratio has since rebounded slightly but remains well below the norm. Options positioning has stayed skewed toward calls throughout the short-covering period.
Post-earnings analyst moves were split. Citigroup raised its target to $190 (from $185), maintaining Buy. Barclays nudged its target to $161, maintaining Overweight. UBS moved the other way — cutting its target to $140 from $155, holding Neutral. The mean target across the coverage universe is $175.
The stock is at $135.28, up 4.1% today and 13.8% over the past month. JP Morgan Asset Management added 6.5 million shares in its most recent reported period. BlackRock added 2.8 million. Access Industries, the largest holder at 15.9% of shares, trimmed 3.7 million.
EPS momentum factor scores are elevated — 86th percentile over 30 days, 82nd over 90 days. Analyst recommendation differential ranks at the 98th percentile.
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