Trulieve Cannabis enters the final stretch of August with a striking divergence: the lending market is among the loosest it has been all year, yet cost-to-borrow has crept higher — a pairing that rewards closer inspection.
The clearest story in the positioning data is how dramatically the borrow market has unwound. Availability — the ratio of shares still available to lend against those already borrowed — has surged to 1,854%, far above the 52-week floor of 329%. That is an enormous pool of unused lending capacity. Back in mid-July, availability was running closer to 930%, meaning the lending market has effectively doubled in depth over six weeks. Short interest itself is barely worth discussing at this level: just 0.27% of the free float, roughly flat on the week and up only half a percentage point over the past month. There is no meaningful short thesis being pressed here.
What makes the borrow picture less clean is the cost-to-borrow, which has climbed 25% over the past month and ticked up another 10% in the past week to 3.66%. The day-to-day swings are wide — it touched 5.5% on August 24 before dropping back — suggesting episodic demand rather than a sustained directional move. The short score of 27.4 sits in a fairly benign range and has edged down from 28.1 two weeks ago, ranking in the 88th percentile for short-score rank, meaning shorts are notably disinterested in this name relative to peers.
The valuation picture adds texture to the bull-bear debate. Trulieve trades at 7.6x EV/EBITDA — a multiple that has eased roughly 2% over the past month — and 59.7x trailing earnings, though the PE has compressed by about 3.5 turns over 30 days. The price-to-book is just under 2x. The ORTEX stock score recently came in at 70.9, with momentum the dominant driver at 89.5, reflecting exceptional relative-strength readings across the 91-, 182-, and 365-day windows. Value remains the weakest pillar. The fundamental score registered 82, citing multistate operational breadth as a positive. Those scores sit in constructive territory, though the next earnings event in November is the next real test for the fundamental story.
On the ownership side, two passive 13G filings warrant attention. AdvisorShares Trust disclosed a 6.26% stake as of early July, and Marex Securities Products filed at 5.8% in December. Neither is an activist — both are Schedule 13G, passive-intent disclosures — but together they represent material concentrated ownership. Per standard 13D/G disclosure conventions, these stakes are reported around the 5% threshold and may have shifted since filing without a follow-up disclosure.
Price data carries a caveat worth flagging: the most recent close on record is CAD 16.14 from June 9, now 82 days stale. The analyst consensus is over three years old and has been omitted accordingly. What is worth watching into November is whether the momentum score can hold at elevated levels without a fresh price catalyst — and whether the episodic cost-to-borrow spikes become more persistent, which would signal a change in borrow dynamics despite the currently ample supply.
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