QXO Borrowing Costs Explode 931% as Short Interest Climbs
Produced automatically from ORTEX data and published under the ORTEX News editorial standards set by Peter Hillerberg, Editor, ORTEX News. How we publish
Why this matters — Three distinct ORTEX data streams on QXO flashed red within hours. Short interest jumped 15% over the past week to 75.9M shares, cost to borrow rocketed from 0.51% to 5.48%, and put/call ratios spiked nearly three standard deviations above the mean.
Converging signals
Short interest surge. QXO's short position hit 75.9M shares as of April 23, now representing 11.25% of the float. That's up 15.4% week-over-week and 18.1% over the past month. The cumulative build has been steady since mid-March, when short interest sat near 62.8M shares.
Borrow market tightens. Cost to borrow erupted to 5.48% APR, a 931% increase from 0.51% one week ago. The move accelerated sharply starting April 20, when CTB was just 0.80%. Utilization climbed in lockstep, reaching 65.79%—just 14 basis points below the 52-week high set one day earlier.
Options traders hedge aggressively. The put/call ratio jumped to 0.59 on April 23, well above the 20-day mean of 0.43 and 2.76 standard deviations outside the norm. That marks the highest PCR reading since late March, when defensive positioning also spiked.
Corroborating context
Recent analyst moves suggest cautious optimism. Keybanc raised its price target to $32 from $30 on April 20 while maintaining an Overweight rating. RBC Capital moved in the opposite direction earlier this month, cutting its target to $28 from $30. The consensus target of $32.33 sits 46% above the current $22.10 close.
Insider activity shows net selling. CEO Bradley Jacobs and CFO Ihsan Essaid sold a combined $29M in shares on January 15, following tax-related award vesting. The 90-day net value sold reached $36.3M, though the data is 99 days old.
Top institutional holders have been mixed. Morgan Stanley added 11.6M shares through February, while Vanguard increased its position by 1.1M shares as of March 31. BlackRock also added 736K shares in the same period.
Data summary
- Short interest % of float: 11.25%, up 15.4% week-over-week
- Cost to borrow: 5.48% APR, up 931% from 0.51% one week ago
- Utilization: 65.79%, near 52-week high of 65.93%
- Put/call ratio: 0.59, z-score of 2.76 (2.76 std devs above 20-day mean)
- ORTEX Short Score: 75.1, up from 71.4 one week ago
- Next earnings: May 5, 2026
- Analyst consensus target: $32.33 (46% upside to current price)
- Net insider selling (90d): $36.3M as of January 15
Against its own history
This week's change in short interest is 1.7 standard deviations above the company's typical weekly move over the past year. Short interest is at its highest level in at least a year.
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Open QXO on ORTEX →How this article was generated
- Generated
- 24 Apr 2026, 18:34
- Data as of
- 24 Apr 2026, 18:32
- Prompt version
- v1.0
- Data sources
- Short interestCost to borrowUtilizationOptions flowEarningsAnalyst consensusInstitutional positioningORTEX Alpha signals
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.