Ameris Bancorp Options Flip Defensive Before Q3 Results

ABCB is set to report third-quarter results on October 29, and the options market has shifted sharply in the past 24 hours.

The put/call ratio jumped to 0.30 on October 27, more than double its 20-day average of 0.14 and nearly four standard deviations above that mean. That is the highest defensive positioning of the past year, with the 52-week PCR peak at 0.36. The contrast with the article published six days ago is stark: at that point the ratio sat at 0.14 with a z-score of 0.50, well within normal range. Something changed in the final session before the print.

Short interest has edged higher alongside that shift. At 4.2% of the free float, it is the largest position in at least a year, having grown roughly 3% over the past week and 12% over the past month. The borrow market remains loose, with availability at 2,089%, meaning shares available to borrow still outnumber those already shorted by more than 20 to one. Cost to borrow is 0.46%, low and falling over the month. The short position is growing, but there is no squeeze pressure.

The analyst picture is divided. DA Davidson cut its target to $96 from $100 on October 27 while keeping a Buy rating, narrowing the upside case. The consensus target of $93 still sits roughly 13% above the current price of $82.56. Bears point to modest loan growth, net interest margin pressure and heavy exposure to commercial real estate in the Southeast. Bulls counter with the bank's consistent deposit and asset expansion: FDIC call report data published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shows total assets and total deposits each grew for six consecutive quarters through April 2026, reaching $28.4 billion and $22.7 billion respectively. The FDIC dataset has not yet been tested as a leading indicator against Ameris's reported figures, so those streaks are context, not a forecast.

Peers have moved more decisively over the past week. GBCI rose 12.4%, COLB gained 9.6% and FNB added 8.1%, while ABCB gained 2.3%. That relative lag against highly correlated names goes into the print as an unresolved question. The Q3 report will test whether Ameris's margin and loan trends can close the gap between where the stock is trading and where most of the Street thinks it belongs.