NIO Borrow Dries Up Post-Earnings as Short Interest Climbs

The September 4 print has come and gone. NIO fell 1.6% on the day. Now the lending market has tightened further still — and short interest keeps climbing.

Availability has dropped to 4.2%. That is the tightest reading in 52 weeks. It means roughly one share remains available to borrow for every 24 already lent out. Three weeks ago, availability was above 33%. The pool has not just tightened — it has essentially closed.

The Cost of a Short Has Tripled in a Month

Cost to borrow stood at 0.74% on August 26. It closed September 4 at 1.93%. That is a 160% rise in one week and a 130% rise over the past month. The absolute level remains modest by squeeze standards, but the velocity of the move is the signal. Lenders are repricing fast.

Short interest has not flinched. It reached 139 million shares as of September 4, up 13% over the past week. The ORTEX short score has climbed to 65.1 — its highest point in the recent dataset, and up steadily from 62.3 ten days ago. NIO ranks in the 10th percentile on short positioning across the universe. Nine in ten stocks are less heavily shorted.

Earnings Are in the Rearview — Shorts Are Still Building

The pre-earnings borrow squeeze narrative tracked across previous coverage was straightforward: shorts piling in ahead of a known catalyst. What's notable now is that the catalyst has passed — and the borrow market hasn't loosened. Availability was 7.4% heading into the September 4 print. It tightened further to 4.2% afterward. Short interest added shares on the day of the release itself.

The stock dropped 8.7% on September 1 and slid another 1.6% on September 4. It has lost 13% over the past week and 20% over the past month. Bears have been right on direction. They are also paying more to maintain those positions each day.

Options and Institutional Flows

The put/call ratio fell to 0.70 on September 4 — its lowest point in the 52-week window, nearly two standard deviations below the 20-day mean of 0.76. That means call volume is elevated relative to puts. Options traders are not uniformly bearish on a near-term basis, even as the lending market prices in sustained short demand.

Institutional holders show modest divergence. Morgan Stanley held 25.4 million shares as of June 30, up 12.6 million in the period. D.E. Shaw trimmed by 20.1 million shares across the same window. The two largest holders — CYVN Investments (17.9% stake via Schedule 13D, as last disclosed January 2026) and founder Bin Li (6.6%) — have not reported changes.

Data Summary

• Short interest: 139M shares, +13% over one week, +8.7% over one month
• Availability: 4.2% — 52-week low; down 64% in one week
• Cost to borrow: 1.93%, up 160% week-on-week, 130% over one month
• ORTEX short score: 65.1 (10th percentile universe ranking)
• Price: $3.80, down 13% on the week, 20% on the month
• Put/call ratio: 0.70, PCR z-score –2.0 (near 52-week low)
• Next earnings: November 25, 2026

What to watch: Whether availability stabilises above 4% or continues to compress. At current trajectory, the lending pool has almost no room left.