Li Auto reported earnings on August 26. The short book didn't budge. A week later, the lending market remains as tight as ever — and the bears keep adding.
Short interest stands at 29.2 million shares as of August 31. That is the highest level in the daily history of ORTEX data. It is up 14.6% over the past week and 8% over the past month. The post-earnings period has brought no relief to a crowded short book.
The cost to borrow has climbed 52.5% in a single week to 1.48%. That rise reflects genuine friction. New shorts are expensive. Existing shorts face rising carrying costs. Yet the position keeps growing.
Availability — shares still lendable relative to those already out on loan — sits at 8.8%. That means roughly nine shares remain available for every hundred already borrowed. This is not a momentary dip. Availability has been below 10% almost every session since early August, touching a floor of 3.8% on August 14. The lending pool is effectively at capacity.
The ORTEX short score reached 67.5 on August 28. That is up from 63.5 two weeks earlier and the highest reading on record. The utilization rank sits at the 1st percentile — meaning virtually no other stock in the database has a tighter borrow market relative to its lending pool.
The put/call ratio stands at 0.59. That is 1.7 standard deviations below its 20-day average of 0.77. It has been below 0.65 every session since August 24. Options traders continue to lean bullish. This is the same split that existed before earnings — the print didn't resolve it.
In late July, the PCR sat above 1.16. The rotation to calls has been dramatic and has now persisted for more than two weeks.
Piper Sandler lowered its target to $13 from $15 on August 27, maintaining a Neutral rating. The stock trades at $12.10. Consensus targets from HSBC ($15.60), Barclays ($14.00), and JP Morgan ($15.50 Underweight) all sit above the current price. The analyst community is cautious but not uniformly bearish.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open LI on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
