Why this matters — Three distinct ORTEX data points have aligned on POET within 48 hours. Cost to borrow surged 318% in a week, utilisation jumped above 88%, and options put/call ratio hit a 52-week high.
Cost to borrow exploded. POET's borrowing cost rocketed to 4.57% on April 23rd, up from just 0.92% on April 17th — a 318% weekly spike. The jump accelerated sharply in the final two days, climbing from 1.15% to 2.79% to 4.57%. Lenders are demanding materially higher rates to part with shares.
Utilisation nearing capacity. On April 22nd, utilisation hit 90.74%, up from 73.91% the prior day. The latest reading stands at 88.69%. The 52-week high is 100%. Shorts are consuming almost all available inventory.
Options traders loaded calls. The put/call ratio jumped to 0.1415 on April 23rd, a 52-week high and 3.2 standard deviations above the 20-day mean of 0.10. Traders bought calls aggressively relative to puts — a bullish tilt that can amplify upside moves via dealer hedging.
Short interest rose 7.4% day-over-day to 13.35 million shares, 10.1% of free float. The stock rallied 60% over the past week. ORTEX short score climbed to 62.3, up from 60.3 a week prior. The combination of rising borrow cost, high utilisation, and aggressive call buying suggests shorts may be under pressure.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
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