Options market turns defensive as steel maker approaches Q1 earnings with minimal short interest. Put/call ratio jumps to two-standard-deviations above normal despite month-long rally.
Short interest sits at just 1.87% of free float. That's 4.28 million shares as of April 22. Days to cover: 2.99. Short sellers added 19,000 shares in the past day but trimmed 5,400 shares over the week. Cost to borrow remains trivial at 0.41%. Utilisation sits at 0.51%, well below the 52-week high of 6.15%. This is not a crowded short heading into the print.
Put/call ratio hit 0.69 on April 23. That's a Z-score of +2.1 relative to the 20-day mean of 0.50. The spike suggests traders are buying protection. The 52-week range is 0.38 to 0.91; current PCR is in the upper third. The defensive positioning comes despite a 33% one-month rally and 11% gain over the past week. Implied volatility data not available.
No recent analyst changes reported in the snapshot. No consensus rating or target price data available heading into the print. The stock closed at $212.95 on April 23, down 0.6% on the day.
last reported on January 26, 2026. Prior earnings events occurred in late January and early February 2026. No post-earnings price reaction data available. The current rally pushed the stock 33% higher over 30 days, suggesting strong expectations or sector momentum ahead of Monday's release.
No active ORTEX Alpha signals. Short score registered 31.5 on April 22, indicating low bearish pressure. The combined score also sits at 31.4. No recent signal triggers reported.
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