Pursuit Attractions and Hospitality just reported its best Q1 on record — and short sellers are quietly backing away.
The company delivered Q1 2026 results on May 6 that beat on both lines. Adjusted EPS came in at -$0.94 against a -$0.95 consensus estimate, while revenues of $51.6M topped the $47.4M forecast by nearly 9%. Q1 is structurally the weakest quarter for an attractions and hospitality business, so the revenue beat carries real weight. The stock responded — it closed at $41.65 on May 5, up nearly 4% on the day and 10% over the past month, a run that has taken the price within striking distance of the mean analyst price target.
The positioning picture supports that move rather than fights it. Short interest has edged down to 5.1% of free float from a recent peak above 5.7% in mid-April, a steady retreat that has unwound the modest build seen during the market's tariff-driven volatility spike. Cost to borrow is effectively unchanged at a modest 0.55% — down roughly 14% on the week — making short positioning inexpensive enough that the retreat reflects genuine conviction changes rather than a forced squeeze. Availability of shares to borrow is wide at 534%, meaning the lending pool is nowhere near stressed and new shorts can enter easily if sentiment sours. The ORTEX short score sits at 54, mid-range and stable over the past two weeks.
Options traders have shifted firmly toward calls. The put/call ratio now reads 0.45, below the 20-day average of 0.54 and a dramatic reversal from March and early April when the PCR was running above 1.3. That swing — from clearly defensive positioning to a call-skewed setup — tracks almost perfectly with the stock's 10% recovery from its early-April lows. Buyers are no longer hedging as aggressively; they're reaching for upside.
Analyst coverage remains thin. The most recent action on record is from Stifel in December 2025, when the firm raised its target modestly to $44 while holding a Buy rating. Oppenheimer, carrying an Outperform, trimmed to $41 in May 2025. The consensus mean target near $47 implies upside from current levels, though with the stock already at $41.65 and limited fresh Street activity, that gap may reflect stale assumptions more than live conviction. PRSU trades at around 28.6x trailing earnings and roughly 10.8x EV/EBITDA — multiples that have drifted up modestly over the past month as the stock has re-rated higher.
On the institutional side, the register is dominated by Crestview Advisors with a 24% stake, followed by BlackRock at nearly 12%, which added roughly 66,000 shares through end of April. River Road and Vanguard also added positions through March. The most notable recent action runs in the other direction: Victory Capital trimmed 202,000 shares as of December 2025, the largest single-holder reduction in the table. FMR (Fidelity), meanwhile, added 253,400 shares through February. The pattern is mixed, with passive and index-oriented holders growing quietly while some active managers reduced exposure into prior strength.
Insiders tell a similar two-chapter story. Through November 2025, the CEO and Independent Chairman both bought stock in the $33-34 range — modest in dollar terms but a visible signal of confidence at lower prices. Since January 2026, the CEO and CFO have each made small routine sales, consistent with planned selling programs rather than conviction shifts. Net insider position over the last 90 days tracked in the data shows a slight positive tilt, but the values are small.
The Q1 print has been filed and the conference call is scheduled. What to watch next is whether management's commentary on booking trends and summer visibility — the critical revenue-driving season for an attractions business — shifts the tone on the lone analyst covering this name, and whether a post-print price re-rating prompts fresh institutional flows or tighter availability as short interest adjusts to the new fundamental baseline.
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