Cricut CEO Sales Run Into Fresh Short Pressure

Cricut heads into the week after its November 3 earnings release with a stock down 9% over the past month, a CEO selling steadily under a pre-arranged plan, and shorts still holding an above-average position despite a gradual unwind.

The most visible insider story is the rhythm of CEO Ashish Arora's disposals. He sold 60,000 shares on each of six separate occasions between late September and October 23, all executed under a 10b5-1 plan, totalling around 360,000 shares worth roughly $2.3 million over the period. Because these are plan-driven sales, they carry less conviction signal than discretionary trades. Still, the cumulative net insider position over 90 days runs to minus 1.1 million shares and negative $6.4 million in value, a one-directional flow that is hard to ignore entirely. Arora remains a substantial holder via his 13G filing, declaring 33.2% of the class as of May 2026, down from 35.6% previously, so the sales represent a gradual reduction rather than an exit.

Short positioning tells a moderately cautious story, though not an extreme one. Short interest has been declining steadily since early October, falling roughly 16% over the past month to reach 8.1% of the free float. That is still a meaningful short position for a household appliances name, but the direction of travel favours shorts retreating rather than pressing. The lending market backs that up: availability is comfortable at 266%, meaning there are more than two-and-a-half shares available to borrow for every share currently shorted, well above the 52-week tightest level of 136%. Cost to borrow is low at around 0.6%, up about 28% on the week but still near the floor of its recent range. There is no meaningful squeeze pressure here.

Options positioning is almost perfectly neutral, which is itself a data point. The put/call ratio is 0.32, essentially flat on its 20-day average of 0.32, with a z-score near zero. The 52-week range runs from 0.08 to 0.40, so the current reading sits in the middle of that band. Options traders are neither protecting nor speculating at any unusual clip, suggesting the market took the earnings release largely in stride.

The Street's view has been persistently downbeat, though the most recent analyst data dates to August 2026 and should be treated with caution. The mean price target from analysts was $4.07 at that point, well below the current price of $5.97, implying the stock has outrun formal targets. Goldman Sachs last acted in January 2026, cutting its target to $3.00 while maintaining a Sell. Morgan Stanley carried an Underweight with a $3.80 target as of March 2025. The direction of travel across all recent changes has been lower targets and negative ratings, with no upgrades on record. Factor scores reinforce the tension: the EPS surprise rank is at the 99th percentile, meaning the company has been beating estimates consistently, but forward EPS growth ranks at just the 3rd percentile, pointing to limited top-line momentum. The short score of 60.8 is elevated but has edged down slightly from 62.6 a week ago.

One attention signal worth flagging comes from the alt data layer. Wikipedia page views for Cricut registered a retail attention z-score of 4.5 as of October 19, an unusually high spike relative to the prior 90 days. The dataset has not been measured or tested as a lead for the company's financials, so it carries no predictive weight for the next print, scheduled for March 2027. It is colour, not a forecast, though the spike in search and reading activity around the earnings date is consistent with the event calendar.

Ownership concentration is the structural backdrop. Petrus Trust holds 68.7% of the class per its April 2026 13G filing, with Arora himself declared at 33.2%. The free float is thin, which amplifies the impact of any change in short positioning or institutional flow. BlackRock added shares to reach 7.7% of the class as of its July 2026 13G filing, a passive build rather than an activist move. No 13D activist holders are on the register.

With the next earnings event not until March 2027, the near-term watch is whether Arora's 10b5-1 programme continues at the same cadence, and whether the gradual short unwind stabilises or reverses as the stock drifts further below analyst targets.