Why this matters — Four distinct ORTEX data streams have aligned simultaneously on POET. Cost to borrow, utilisation, and options positioning have all hit multi-week or 52-week extremes as the stock rallies over 108% in a single week.
Cost to Borrow — Record High CTB hit 6.33% on April 24. That is up 587% from 0.92% on April 17. ORTEX flags this as the highest borrow cost since tracking began. The move from 0.92% to 6.33% in seven days reflects a rapid tightening of available shares to lend.
Utilisation — Near Maximum Utilisation reached 93.96% on April 24. That compares to 71.0% just one week earlier. The 52-week high stands at 100%. Short sellers are borrowing heavily even as the stock surges — nearly all available shares to borrow are now deployed.
Options — 52-Week Extreme The put/call ratio hit 0.145 on April 24. That is a 52-week high. It sits 2.68 standard deviations above the 20-day mean of 0.107. The ratio has risen sharply since April 21 (0.098). Aggressive call buying is dominating the options market.
Short Interest — Holding Steady SI % FF stands at 9.81% as of April 24. Short interest shares are up 3.3% over the past week. Shorts have not covered en masse despite the rally.
Insiders have been net sellers. The most recent trades — in March 2026 — were both sales. Over the prior six months, multiple C-suite and director-level sales occurred at prices between $7.25 and $9.14. The stock now trades at $15.10. The mean analyst price target sits at $8.20, well below current levels. The most recent target raise (December 2024) took the high-end target to $7.00. POET ranks in the 3rd percentile globally for utilisation and the 6th percentile for short score — both pointing to extreme short-side pressure relative to peers.
POET has previously delivered sharp post-earnings moves. The April 10 event produced a +20% one-day gain. The March 31 event delivered +10%. This current rally of 108% in one week substantially exceeds those single-event moves.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
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