PCG options hit 52-week extreme call skew ahead of tomorrow's earnings

Options traders have loaded up on calls in PG&E Corporation, pushing the put-call ratio to 0.11, the lowest level in 52 weeks and nearly two standard deviations below its 20-day average. Retail attention is running at 3.81 standard deviations above its 90-day norm, per Wikipedia views and ORTEX stock page data. Short interest, at 1.42% of free float, remains low by any measure.

Call buyers dominate ahead of October 22

The put-call ratio of 0.11 compares with a 52-week high of 0.67. The ratio has drifted down steadily over the past two weeks, from around 0.16 in early October to its current extreme. That move stands apart from peers: closest comparable EIX gained 1.5% over the past week, while PCG slipped 1.1%. The options market is pricing in a far more optimistic outcome than the recent share price trajectory suggests.

Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $21 this morning, maintaining Equal-Weight. That follows a period of broad target cuts. Barclays and JP Morgan both lowered targets to $17 in mid-October, and UBS downgraded to Neutral in late September with a $14 target. The mean consensus target sits at $18.56, against a current price of $13.18.

Short interest low, borrow market extremely loose

At 1.42% of free float, short positions are at their lowest point in at least a year. Shares short have fallen from around 40 million in late September to just over 31 million now. A one-week uptick of 7.3% on October 19 was followed by a 4.4% pullback on October 20, leaving the trend unclear.

The borrow market offers no support for a squeeze narrative. Availability stands at 8,559%, meaning roughly 85 shares remain available to lend for every one currently borrowed. Cost to borrow is 0.14%, down 73% over the past month.

Retail attention spikes into the print

ORTEX data shows retail attention at 3.81 standard deviations above its 90-day average as of today. This is a measure of engagement, Wikipedia page views and ORTEX stock page activity, not a revenue or earnings indicator. The spike coincides with earnings due tomorrow morning.

Separately, EPA Clean Air Markets data shows PG&E's gross capacity factor by operator at 5.12% in June 2026, the lowest reading since the series began in 2024 and the smallest June on record. This is a factual reading from the company's own operating data, not a forward indicator.

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What to watch: whether tomorrow's Q3 print closes the gap between the $13.18 share price and the $18.56 consensus target, or accelerates the wave of analyst target cuts that has run since early September.