Snowflake is catching short sellers' attention. SI jumped 33% over the past month to 5.1% of float. Yet the borrow market tells a contradictory story — availability remains extremely loose, and cost to borrow just hit a multi-month low.
Short interest in SNOW reached 17.1 million shares as of May 4. That is 5.06% of free float — up sharply from around 3.8% a month ago.
The weekly jump was striking. Shorts added roughly 4.6 million shares in a single week around April 24. That is one of the sharpest week-on-week moves in months.
But the lending market is not confirming stress. Cost to borrow sits at just 0.26% APR — down 54% in one week. Availability remains extremely loose. Shorts are piling in, but there is no scramble for borrows. Supply is plentiful.
The put/call ratio hit 0.83 on April 30 — a 52-week high — before pulling back to 0.71 by May 4. At its peak, the PCR was 3.7 standard deviations above its 20-day mean.
That spike now looks like a one-day extreme rather than a sustained shift. The current PCR of 0.71 sits close to the 20-day average of 0.69. The options market has calmed considerably from its most fearful moment.
Wall Street has been trimming targets throughout April. UBS's Karl Keirstead lowered his price target from $235 to $210 on April 21, maintaining his Buy rating. Keybanc and Evercore ISI both cut to $200 earlier in the month.
The consensus remains firmly bullish — 34 Buy ratings on record. But the direction of travel is clearly downward on targets. The stock at $144 sits well below even the most conservative recent targets.
Earnings are due May 20. The last print delivered a +7.5% one-day move. That date now frames the near-term setup for both sides.
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