RNW Short Sellers Retreat Before Earnings

ReNew Energy Global reports today, but the most notable recent move in its data has come from short sellers walking away.

Short positions have fallen 20% over the past week to roughly 0.84% of the free float. That decline extends a longer retreat: shorts are down 26% over the past month, from a position that was already modest. Days to cover sits at 1.56, meaning the remaining short book could be unwound in under two sessions. The borrow market reflects the same picture. Availability is exceptionally loose at 1,249%, meaning more than twelve shares remain available to borrow for every one currently shorted. Borrowing costs, at 0.62%, have edged up 31% over the week but remain at levels that impose no meaningful friction on new positions.

Options positioning has shifted since the previous note published on October 24. The put/call ratio then stood at 0.50, described as nearly three standard deviations above the 20-day mean. It now reads 0.54 against a 20-day mean of 0.37, placing it about 1.3 standard deviations above average. Hedging demand has not collapsed, but it has eased from that earlier peak. The contrast between options traders still buying protection and short sellers continuing to cover has moderated rather than resolved.

Ownership remains the defining structural feature of the stock. Three 13D filers, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and founder Sumant Sinha, collectively hold well over half the shares on a Schedule 13D basis, with CPPIB filing as recently as October 28. These are long-duration, sovereign-linked holders with no recent reduction in their stakes. ADIA trimmed marginally from 23.8% to 23.64%, and JERA from 11.6% to 10.0%, but neither move signals a change in conviction. Franklin Templeton is a notable exception: its last 13G/A, filed October 28, shows a drop from 5.9% to 0.1% of the class, an exit from a position it held as a passive 5% owner. All 13D/G stakes are as last disclosed and holders dropping below 5% may exit without filing again.

Analyst coverage tells a story of sustained target compression. Mizuho has cut its target three times since early 2024, moving from Outperform to Neutral and reducing its target from $10.00 to $6.75 as of June 2026. Roth MKM has held a Buy but trimmed its target repeatedly, from $9.00 to $7.50. The stock trades at $6.85. EPS momentum scores rank in the 91st to 95th percentile on both 30-day and 90-day measures, pointing to improving forward earnings expectations, a counterweight to the direction of analyst target cuts. The P/E multiple has compressed about 6% over the past month, now at 10.7 times.

The print will test whether the EPS momentum scores pointing to improving forward earnings are grounded in operational delivery, and whether that is enough to arrest the steady drift in analyst price targets.