Why this matters: Two analyst upgrades in two days — and a fresh initiation — are landing just as Tempus AI shorts complete a multi-week retreat. The signals are converging, but options traders are adding puts.
The pace of positive analyst action is the standout. Piper Sandler's David Westenberg flipped to Overweight on September 1, raising his target from $56 to $76 — a 36% lift. One day later, Cantor Fitzgerald's Sarah James initiated with Overweight and a $80 target. That puts the two newest price targets well above the stock's $61.94 close. The consensus now sits at Buy, with a mean target of $67.47.
The reversal at Piper Sandler is notable. Westenberg had trimmed his target to $56 just four weeks earlier, after August earnings. He has now pivoted sharply. That kind of same-analyst about-face typically signals a meaningful change in the underlying thesis, not routine maintenance.
BTIG and HC Wainwright remain at Buy. Freedom Capital raised its Hold target from $51 to $73. Even the cautious voices are moving numbers higher.
The covering trend reported yesterday has continued. SI % of free float stands at 15.9%, down from above 20% a month ago and from over 33 million shares in mid-August. The absolute share count has dropped roughly 5.5 million in six weeks.
Borrow availability now sits at 152%. That compares to readings below 50% that persisted from late July into early August. The lending market is no longer tight. Shorts exiting have no friction — there is no borrow squeeze dynamic to force the pace.
Cost to borrow has eased 15% on the week to 0.51%, down 26% over the past month.
The put/call ratio rose to 0.40 on September 2 — its highest in two weeks, and a z-score of 2.15 against the 20-day mean. It is still low in absolute terms (the 52-week high is 0.66), but the direction of travel breaks from the otherwise bullish backdrop. Options traders appear to be hedging into strength rather than chasing it.
CEO Eric Lefkofsky continues to sell under a 10b5-1 plan. Net insider sales over 90 days total roughly $28.6 million. Planned sales carry less signal than discretionary ones, but the volume is worth noting alongside the analyst enthusiasm.
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