ORBS (Eightco Holdings) heads into the final days of September with a striking split: short sellers are covering at pace while a cluster of activist investors has taken root across the share register, making the ownership picture one of the more unusual on Nasdaq right now.
The short-side retreat is the clearest near-term move. Short interest fell 17% over the past week to 13.75% of the free float, a sharp pullback from the 32.9 million shares borrowed just two weeks ago at the September 22 peak. That drop has loosened the borrow market considerably. Availability has more than doubled over the week, climbing to 40.2% from under 20% in mid-September, when it briefly tightened to 13.2% on September 21. Cost to borrow, which had been running closer to 2% through August and early September, has eased to 1.52%. The short score has tracked the same direction, dropping from 66.2 on September 21 to 62.8 now, though at 62.8 it still ranks in the 11th percentile of the universe, meaning the bears are retreating but have not capitulated. Availability at 40.2% remains in the tighter half of the range, which means new short positions are not free of friction.
Options traders, by contrast, are leaning bullish rather than defensive. The put/call ratio has dropped to 0.25, well below its 20-day average of 0.29, and the z-score of negative 1.6 points to call-side demand running unusually strong relative to recent history. That lines up with the stock's month-to-date performance: up 47% over the past month, closing at $1.18 on September 29. This week's gain was modest at 0.9%, suggesting the sharp move may be pausing rather than accelerating. The ORTEX short score factor ranks utilisation in the 4th percentile of the universe, a reflection of how actively the lending pool has been used at its tightest points this quarter.
The ownership picture is the most newsworthy aspect of the register. ORBS has four active 13D filings on record. BITMINE IMMERSION TECHNOLOGIES holds 31.94% of the class as last disclosed in March 2026, up from 7.54% in a prior filing, making it the dominant force on the register. MOZAYYX UGP held 9.99%, World Assets 9.06%, and Paul Vassilakos 10.7%, though Vassilakos's filing dates to January 2025. That is four Schedule 13D filers, each disclosing activist intent, alongside a number of passive 13G holders. Notably, two earlier 13G holders have since filed zero-share exits: Wedbush Alpha One ORBS T1 exited in March 2026 and Discovery Capital Management in May 2026. CoinFund Management, once holding 9.9%, filed a zero-stake amendment in August 2026. The register is becoming more concentrated, not less. As always with 13D/G disclosures, stakes are as last filed around the 5% threshold; any holder that has fallen below 5% may not have filed again.
On the insider front, CEO Kevin O'Donnell made two open-market purchases this year: 200,000 shares at $0.92 in June and 50,000 shares at $0.81 in August, totalling roughly $224,000 in net buying over the 90 days to August 28. Neither trade was made under a 10b5-1 plan, making them discretionary. At a $1.18 current price, both purchases are in the money. Taken alongside the September 2025 cluster, when O'Donnell and two directors put in around $950,000 between them in a single session, the pattern of management accumulation is persistent even if the individual sizes are modest.
With next earnings scheduled for November 13, the 44 days between now and that print are the next natural focus point. Prior reactions have been mixed: the two most recent prints saw moves of negative 9.5% and positive 8.9% on the day, suggesting the stock can move sharply in either direction. What matters heading into that date is whether the short cover that has driven this month's 47% rally continues, or whether availability tightening returns as a constraint, and whether the activist concentration on the register produces any public statement of intent.
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