KDK Borrow Market Tightens as Short Score Hits 81

Three separate ORTEX signals fired on KDK within hours. The lending market is the story. Availability has collapsed to 4.7% — fewer than five shares remain available for every hundred already borrowed.

The Borrow Crunch

A week ago, availability sat at 12.5%. It has since fallen 62%. That brings Kodiak AI's borrow market close to the tightest it has been in the past year — the 52-week minimum hit 0%.

Cost to borrow stands at 15.8%, up 8.3% over the past week. It briefly spiked to 38.5% on September 15 before retreating. That spike suggests the lending pool was nearly exhausted mid-month. It has tightened again sharply since.

Short interest sits at 6.2% of free float. That is up 16.1% in one week and 25.9% over the past month. With availability this thin, new shorts face steep borrowing costs. Existing positions are increasingly difficult to grow.

Short Score and Options Confirm the Pressure

The ORTEX short score reached 81 on September 24. It has climbed steadily all week from 76.4 on September 18. That puts KDK among the more heavily flagged names in the ORTEX universe.

Options positioning has shifted too. The put-call ratio rose to 0.21, a z-score of 2.18 standard deviations above the 20-day mean of 0.13. That is the highest PCR reading since late August. It reflects growing demand for downside protection as the stock falls.

KDK has declined 27.4% this week and 26.6% over the past month. It trades at $2.78.

Analysts Hold the Line

Despite the sell-off, analyst coverage has not buckled. Chardan Capital's James McIlree maintained his Buy rating and $12 price target today. Morgan Stanley initiated at Equal-Weight with a $9 target on September 11. Needham and Oppenheimer both initiated with Buy ratings earlier this month.

The mean price target across covering analysts is $10.50 — roughly 278% above the current price. The gap between analyst targets and current trading levels underlines the disconnect between fundamental coverage and short-seller conviction.

Earnings are not due until November 6. That is six weeks away — enough time for the borrow situation to evolve further in either direction.

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What to watch: Whether availability drops back toward 0% (as it did repeatedly through August and early September) or recovers above 10% — that will be the clearest signal of whether short-seller pressure is building or easing.

• SI % of free float: 6.2% (up 16.1% week-on-week)
• Availability: 4.7% (down from 12.5% a week ago; 52-week low: 0%)
• Cost to borrow: 15.8%
• Put-call ratio: 0.21 (z-score: +2.18)
• ORTEX short score: 81.0
• Stock price: $2.78 (–27.4% this week)
• Next earnings: November 6, 2026