The short book that sat unmoved for weeks has finally broken. MA short interest dropped 21% in a single day on August 25 — from 9.07 million shares to 7.17 million. That ends the stubborn holding pattern described in Monday's report, where bears had "built a position and held it through" a 7.9% monthly rally. They held until $599. Then they stopped holding.
Monday's report noted short interest locked at 1.04% of float "almost to the decimal." As of August 25 that figure reads 0.80% — the lowest since late July, before the block of bearish positions was established. This is a meaningful shift. The bears that absorbed a $580 break, a $590 close, and a post-earnings stock print have now materially reduced their exposure near $600.
SI at 0.80% of free float remains low in absolute terms. The lending market is no constraint — shares to borrow are essentially unlimited, with availability at maximum levels. The covering here is a positioning decision, not a forced unwind.
The covering coincides with a fresh analyst move. Wolfe Research's Darrin Peller raised his price target from $680 to $740 yesterday, while maintaining Outperform. That puts the highest current target on the Street at a 24% premium to Tuesday's close.
It is the latest in a wave. Truist raised to $633 on August 5. Cantor lifted to $695 on August 3. UBS, Macquarie, RBC, Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen, Barclays, and Keybanc all raised targets in the session following Q2 earnings on July 31. The consensus target now stands at $668.92 — 11.5% above current levels.
That consensus gap has been a steady feature of this stock all year. The Wolfe move narrows it slightly but keeps the constructive framing intact.
The put-call ratio hit 0.87 on August 25. That is the 52-week low for this name. It sits 3.1 standard deviations below the 20-day mean of 0.93. Options positioning has swung to its most call-heavy configuration of the past year — on the same day the short book saw its largest single-day drop in weeks.
Three signals, same direction, same day.
One data point cuts against the grain. The cost to borrow has risen 61% over the past week, reaching 0.38%. That is still low in absolute terms — well below any level associated with squeeze dynamics or borrow scarcity. With availability essentially unlimited, the CTB move reflects noise in the lending rate rather than any fundamental tightening. It does not change the picture.
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