BULL has just reported Q2 2026 results — and the positioning picture heading into that print has barely shifted coming out of it.
Short interest remains the central data point here. The position has held roughly flat on the week, edging up just 0.5% to 6.4% of the free float at 26.9 million shares short. That follows a more meaningful month-long build of around 8%, most of which arrived in a single step-change during the week of July 21. The level is genuine — 6.4% of float is enough to matter — but the borrow market shows no stress. Borrowing costs have actually eased over the past week to 0.41%, their lowest in the current stretch. Availability, the better gauge of lending tightness, tells a similar story: at 386%, there is nearly four shares available to lend for every one already borrowed, well into comfortable territory. The 52-week low in availability was near zero; the current reading is nowhere close to that, which means shorts can add further without friction.
Options positioning continues to sit on the bullish side of neutral. The put/call ratio has drifted down to 0.148, fractionally below its 20-day average of 0.156 and close to the lowest level of the past year. One standard deviation below its recent mean, this reading reflects a market that is paying up for calls relative to puts — not the pattern you'd expect if the earnings reaction from the previous quarter were front of mind. The May print was bruising: the stock fell nearly 12% the day after results and shed a further 9.4% over the following five sessions. Options traders appear to be looking past that episode rather than pricing in a repeat.
The Street view is thin but consistent. Rosenblatt's Chris Brendler reaffirmed a Buy and a $13 target this week — the only active analyst coverage on the stock. At $7.93, that target implies roughly 64% upside, though Brendler has trimmed that target steadily from $19 at initiation in late 2025. Northland Capital Markets initiated with Outperform and an $18 target last September; that coverage appears to have gone quiet since. Factor scores add texture: EPS momentum over 30 and 90 days both rank in the top quartile of the universe (88th and 81st percentile respectively), suggesting analysts have been nudging estimates higher. The EPS surprise score, at the 4th percentile, is a counterweight — actual results have been landing below expectations even as forward estimates rise.
BlackRock is the institutional move worth noting. The asset manager added 6.8 million shares in the period to July 31, lifting its stake to 4.2% of shares outstanding. That is a meaningful addition for a holder of this size on a name this small. Divisadero Street Capital also built a position of nearly 8.8 million shares in the March quarter. Against that, the largest declared holder, Anquan Wang, trimmed by 29.6 million shares to 84 million — a reduction at the top that has been the dominant flow story in recent months.
The ORTEX short score has also eased from a mid-week high of 55.3 on August 12 back to 53.2 today, consistent with a short position that has stopped growing rather than one actively covering. Peers had a rough day on Tuesday: HOOD fell nearly 5% and IBKR dropped 4%, while BULL itself gave back 2.8%. On the week BULL is still up 4.8%, outperforming both despite carrying the heavier short load.
The next formal event on the calendar is flagged for August 28 — worth watching to see whether the post-Q2 reaction changes the positioning dynamic that has remained so static through the earnings print itself.
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