TFC Short Interest Surges 56% Into Earnings

Short sellers have piled into TFC ahead of its April 28 earnings call. Short interest jumped to 2.73% of float as of April 23, up 56% over the past month—the highest utilization in 52 weeks.

Short interest positioning

Short interest stood at 35.0 million shares on April 23, representing 2.73% of free float. That marks a 56% surge over the past month and a 6.3% gain in the last week alone. Days to cover sits at 2.94 per the April 15 FINRA report. Cost to borrow remains modest at 0.44%, down slightly from 0.49% a week ago. Utilization hit 3.8%, just shy of the 52-week high of 3.86% recorded April 22. The rapid climb in short interest from 21.2 million shares in late March reflects growing bearish conviction into the print.

Options market

The put/call ratio closed at 0.984 on April 24, running 2.1 standard deviations above the 20-day mean of 0.906. That elevated PCR sits near the middle of its 52-week range (0.547 low, 1.525 high), signaling above-average defensive positioning but not extreme hedging demand.

Analyst activity

Analysts remain divided. The consensus price target of $55.53 implies 9% upside from the $50.73 close. Evercore's John Pancari raised his target to $58 from $55 on April 23, maintaining Outperform. Morgan Stanley's Betsy Graseck cut her target twice—first to $63 from $69 on March 31, then to $62 on April 20—while holding Overweight. RBC's Gerard Cassidy lifted his target to $53 from $51 on April 20, reiterating Outperform. JP Morgan's Vivek Juneja slashed his Neutral-rated target to $51.50 from $57 on April 7. Jefferies initiated coverage with an Underperform rating and $35 target on March 26, the most bearish stance on the Street. Benzinga's bull case highlights 1.5–2.5% adjusted revenue growth guidance and 3.8% year-over-year net interest income gains. The bear case notes downward revenue revisions and pressure from low single-digit loan growth amid rate-cut expectations.

Valuation & factor positioning

The P/E ratio of 10.88 is up 1.06 points over the past month. Price-to-book stands at 1.02, up 0.12 over 30 days. TFC ranks in the 77th percentile on 30-day EPS momentum and the 64th percentile on 90-day EPS momentum. EPS surprise scores a 71st percentile rank, while 12-month forward EPS growth sits in the 41st percentile.

Insider & institutional context

Insiders sold $3.2 million net over the past 90 days. Vanguard added 701,000 shares in Q1 to hold 119.7 million (9.6% of shares). Capital Research holds 110.0 million shares (8.8%), up 718,000 as of January 31. FMR boosted its stake by 7.3 million shares to 13.5 million as of February 27.

Historical context

TFC last reported on January 21, 2026. The stock has climbed 11.9% over the past month but slipped 1.3% on April 24.

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