STX reports Tuesday with fresh bullish calls and a sharp options flip. Short sellers have trimmed positions 8.4% over the past month as the stock surged 38%.
Short interest stands at 9.0 million shares as of April 23, representing 4.13% of the free float. Shares short fell 0.85% over the past week and 8.4% over the month. Days to cover sits at 2.28 per the latest FINRA data. Cost to borrow is minimal at 0.34%, down 25% week-over-week. Utilization has collapsed to just 1.52%, far below the 52-week high of 18.51%. Short sellers have steadily reduced exposure as the stock rallied into the quarter.
The put/call ratio dropped sharply to 1.15 on April 24, down from a 20-day mean of 2.02. The z-score of -3.70 signals an extreme shift toward call activity. PCR now sits near the 52-week low of 0.65, suggesting options traders have turned decisively bullish heading into the print. The prior three weeks showed heavy put buying above 2.0, but sentiment flipped as the stock broke higher.
Analyst coverage remains active with a consensus price target of $532.57. Six major firms raised targets in April alone. Barclays upgraded to Overweight and lifted its target to $625 from $425 on April 22. BofA Securities raised to $605 from $450 on April 20, maintaining Buy. JP Morgan pushed its Overweight target to $600 from $525 on April 16. Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Bernstein all raised targets between late March and mid-April, with Bernstein's $620 target the highest on the Street. UBS stands as a notable outlier, maintaining Neutral with a $515 target raised April 21. Benzinga's bull case highlights Data Center revenue at $2.22 billion (79% of total) and free cash flow per share up 281% year-over-year. The bear case notes shipment growth lagging revenue and oversupply risks pressuring margins.
The stock trades at a P/E of 37.8, up sharply from 28.4 a month ago. Price-to-book has expanded to 51.0, up 10.4 points in 30 days. EV/EBITDA sits at 28.6, down modestly from 29.9 a month prior. Factor scores rank STX in the 79th percentile for 30-day EPS momentum and 85th for 90-day EPS momentum. The stock scores just 25th percentile on 12-month forward EPS growth and 21st on EV/EBIT, reflecting the recent multiple expansion. Dividend score ranks 97th percentile.
Insiders sold $19.6 million net over the past 90 days, led by CEO William Mosley's April 1 sales totaling over $2 million. Vanguard increased its stake by 1.1 million shares to 28.1 million (12.6% of shares) as of March 31. BlackRock added 1.7 million shares to 16.1 million (7.2%). Union Asset Management added 4.4 million shares to 5.4 million in Q4. FMR LLC added 1.8 million shares through late February.
The stock closed at $586.25 on April 24, up 7% in the past week and 38% over the month. Prior earnings on January 27 and February 5 triggered sharp moves, with the stock trading between $300 and $425 in Q1 before the recent surge.
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