Why this matters — Four distinct ORTEX data streams have aligned on DEO within the past week. Short interest, utilisation, cost to borrow, and options sentiment are all moving simultaneously — a rare convergence for the world's largest spirits maker ahead of its May 7 earnings.
Short interest has surged 24.7% in a single week, reaching 4.27 million shares as of April 24. That represents a 54% jump over one month. The rapid reversal is striking: just days earlier, shorts appeared to be covering after a peak in mid-March. The renewed buildup is aggressive and accelerating.
Utilisation hit 97.4% on April 24 — matching its 52-week high and effectively the ceiling of the borrow market. The climb has been steep. Utilisation sat at 74.67% on April 9. It reached 91.67% by April 23 before touching the 52-week peak the following day. Nearly the entire available borrow pool is now in use.
Cost to borrow reached 1.20% intra-week before settling at 1.10% on April 24. The monthly change is modest at +3.6%, but the intra-week spike to 1.20% — a 61% jump — signals that new short demand is straining supply. With utilisation at 97.4%, any further short interest growth will pressure CTB further.
Options sentiment tells a different story. The put/call ratio sits at 0.65 — well below its 20-day mean of 0.84 and a z-score of -1.80. Call buying has dominated for more than a week. The PCR has collapsed from above 0.92 in early April to its current level. Options traders appear to be positioning for upside, even as short sellers intensify their bearish bets.
Institutional holders are broadly adding shares. Artisan Partners built its position by 38.4 million shares in the most recent reporting period. Massachusetts Financial Services added 12.6 million shares. Causeway Capital added 10.4 million. UBS Asset Management added 9.97 million. Large institutions are accumulating — directly counter to the short-selling trend. The most recent analyst action of note was a UBS downgrade to Neutral in December 2025. DEO ranks in the 92nd percentile on analyst recommendation differential, suggesting the broader analyst community remains more constructive than the shorts.
Utilisation previously hit 96.99% in March 2026. That peak preceded a short-covering rally and a 10% price gain through mid-April. Short interest then fell briefly before the current re-acceleration. The pattern suggests the borrow market has tightened twice in rapid succession, with short sellers returning more aggressively on the second attempt.
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