Why this matters — Three distinct ORTEX data streams have converged on U simultaneously. Short interest is unwinding, borrowing costs are spiking, and options markets are tilting bullish — a rare simultaneous alignment.
Short interest unwind. Short interest in Unity Software fell 6.5% in a single day on April 24. Over the past week, SI % FF dropped 10.3%, from roughly 8.9% to 7.99% of free float. That represents ~4 million fewer shares short in seven trading sessions. The stock gained 7% on the day of the largest daily drop.
Cost to borrow spike. The CTB surged 167% over the prior week to 0.42% APR as of April 23. That spike — coinciding with a SI decline — suggests remaining short sellers are paying more to hold positions even as peers exit. As of April 24 the CTB stood at 0.34%, still elevated on a recent basis.
Bullish options shift. The put/call ratio hit 0.51 on April 23 — a 3.8 standard deviation drop below the 20-day mean of 0.72. That is the lowest PCR reading in recent history (52-week low: 0.32). By April 24 it had normalized slightly to 0.80, but the intraday options flow on April 23 marked a decisive shift toward calls.
Analysts lean constructive. BTIG reiterated its Buy with a $39 price target on April 27 — well above the current $26.01 close. The consensus is Buy, with 13 buys vs 10 holds and a mean target of $32.00 — roughly 23% implied upside. EPS momentum ranks at the 83rd percentile over 30 days, the strongest factor reading in the snapshot. Fidelity (FMR LLC) added 2.8 million shares in Q1 2026 — the largest institutional build among recent holder changes. T. Rowe Price added 1.8 million shares over the same period. Insider activity has been exclusively sales in recent months, though most were small routine transactions.
Unity reports earnings on May 7. The prior earnings release on February 24 produced a +8.5% one-day move and a +16.9% five-day move. The February 11 event, however, was catastrophic: -32.4% in a day. Short covering ahead of a binary event is consistent with the pattern of sellers trimming exposure into a known catalyst.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open U on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
