TFI International Faces Its Biggest Short Build in a Year

TFI International, the Montreal-based trucking and logistics group, reports its third-quarter results on October 29. Short interest has doubled over the past month to its highest level in at least a year, a move that is statistically unusual for this stock even as the shares have recovered ground.

The short build is striking in scale but not in character. Borrowed shares have risen from roughly 920,000 in early October to nearly 1.93 million today, a 106% jump over 30 days and a weekly gain that is 4.4 standard deviations above TFI's typical week. At 2.35% of the free float, though, the absolute level stays low. Borrowing has become easier, not harder: cost to borrow has dropped to 0.37%, its lowest point in the past month, and the lending pool is far from stressed, with shares available to borrow running at roughly 6,919% of current short interest. Around 70 million shares sit available against fewer than two million borrowed. The ORTEX short score has edged up to 34.2 but ranks near the 49th percentile of the broader universe. This reads as a targeted, opportunistic position ahead of a catalyst, not a conviction-driven pile-on.

The stock itself has held up better than the short-side activity might imply. TFI closed at CAD 160.84 on October 27, up 2.5% on the day and 2.6% over the week, outpacing most of its closest freight peers. SAIA gained 2.2% on the week and KNX slipped 0.4%, while ODFL edged down 0.7%. Over the month, TFI has given back 6.1%, leaving a narrower cushion above the levels where the short interest started building. The two most recent earnings releases produced a day-one drop of 2.6% in October 2026 and 1.6% in July 2026, with the July print extending to a five-day loss of 6.2%.

On the ownership side, La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec holds 7.7% of shares and last filed a 13G amendment in February showing its stake had risen from 6.9% to 8.6%. Founder and CEO Alain Bedard remains the second-largest individual holder at nearly 6% of shares outstanding. Neither has changed their position in the most recent reported period, which gives the company a stable anchor base heading into the print.

Tomorrow's results will test whether TFI's margin discipline across its truckload and less-than-truckload operations can justify a valuation that, at 15.3 times trailing earnings and 8.5 times EV/EBITDA, has expanded modestly over the past month even as the shares retreated from their recent highs.