Regional Bank Short Sellers Pull Back Ahead of SSB Earnings

Short interest in SSB has declined 8.8% over the past month to 2.2% of float, while options traders have turned sharply bullish. The regional bank reports today at 1pm ET with borrowing costs low and utilisation minimal.

Short interest positioning

Short interest stands at 2.22 million shares, or 2.2% of free float. That's down 8.8% over the past 30 days and down 0.5% in the last session. Days to cover remains light at 2.34 days based on recent volume. The official FINRA print from March 31 showed 2.15 million shares short, closely aligned with current estimates. Short sellers have steadily reduced exposure through April, with shares short falling from a peak of 2.45 million in mid-March.

Options market

The put/call ratio has collapsed to 0.28, well below the 20-day average of 0.71. That represents a Z-score of –2.4, signalling extreme bullish sentiment. Over the past week PCR has dropped from 0.76 to current levels. The 52-week range runs from 0.06 to 4.61. Traders are positioning for upside ahead of the print.

Analyst activity

No recent analyst activity or rating data is available heading into the earnings release.

Historical context

SSB shares have gained 8.2% over the past month and are up 0.7% over the past week. The stock closed Wednesday at $98.09, up 0.6%. The company announced this earnings date on April 3. A prior event was scheduled for April 15, though the outcome of that print is not detailed in available data.

Active signals

No ORTEX Alpha signals are currently active on SSB.

Cost to borrow sits at just 0.46%, up 22.7% over the past week but down 18.3% over the month. Utilisation is minimal at 2.0%, well below the 52-week high of 11.4%. The setup reflects low conviction among short sellers and rising bullish options flow as the regional bank prepares to report.