CART enters the week with an unusual split: options traders are turning aggressively bullish even as the stock drops sharply and short sellers quietly rebuild positions.
The dominant signal this week is in the options market, where call demand has surged to its most extreme level of the past year. The put/call ratio has collapsed to 0.34 — more than two standard deviations below its 20-day average of 0.43 — and is now close to the 52-week low of 0.23. That makes it the most call-heavy options posture CART has seen in twelve months. The timing is striking: the stock has fallen 5% on the week and nearly 11% over the past month, closing at $44.41. Traders loading up on calls into a drawdown are either betting on a sharp reversal or anticipating a catalyst ahead of the November 6 earnings date.
Short positioning tells a more cautious story from the other side. SI has crept up to 6.1% of the free float, rising about 1.6% on the week and nearly 6% over the past month — a gradual accumulation rather than an aggressive pile-on. The borrow market remains wide open: availability runs at roughly 24 times the current short interest, meaning supply for new positions is effectively unconstrained. Cost to borrow is just 0.41%, one of the cheapest in the market. There is no squeeze pressure here. The short score, at 48.7, is middling and has moved only fractionally over the past two weeks. What the lending market is saying is that bears are adding, but methodically — and facing no friction at all.
The Street sits constructively above current levels, though with enough dispersion to explain the tug-of-war in the stock. The mean analyst price target is $58.14, implying roughly 31% upside from Tuesday's close. Most of the post-earnings target revisions from August 7 were bullish — Barclays lifted to $77, JP Morgan raised to $62, Oppenheimer moved to $65. Argus followed on September 2 with a Buy and a $58 target, up from $50. The lone hold near current prices comes from Guggenheim at $46, barely above where the stock is trading. On valuation, the PE has compressed to 9.5x and EV/EBITDA to 6.8x, both sliding over the past month. The bull case centres on 14% GTV growth — the strongest rate since Q4 2022 — and an advertising revenue stream projected to expand 11–14%. Bears point to EBITDA estimate cuts, lower-margin off-site advertising mixing into the revenue line, and fading exclusivity with major grocery partners.
Ownership adds one notable detail. SC US (TTGP), a registered Schedule 13D activist, trimmed its stake from 9.5% to 8.0% in a filing dated August 17 — reducing, but still holding a meaningful active position. Separately, co-founder Apoorva Mehta remains a significant passive holder at around 8.4% per the most recent 13G. On the insider side, the 90-day net is clearly negative: roughly $12 million in net disposals, led by Director Ravi Gupta's $7.6 million open-market sale on August 19. Most other sales were under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans, which tempers the read-through somewhat — but there was no offsetting buy activity. Stakes are as last disclosed and positions can shift below filing thresholds without a subsequent update.
The most recent earnings print on August 6 produced a one-day gain of more than 10%, with the five-day return almost identical. That reaction pattern will frame how the market approaches the next report on November 6 — the key tension will be whether the advertising growth trajectory has held up against the margin compression bears are already pricing in.
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