Options traders are making a clear statement on DIS. The put/call ratio fell to 0.72 on May 11. That is 2.8 standard deviations below the 20-day mean of 0.77 — aggressive call buying by any measure.
The timing is not random. Disney reported earnings on May 6, with the stock jumping 8.1% on the day. A wave of analyst target hikes followed immediately.
Five firms moved their targets in the week following earnings. Citigroup's Jason Bazinet lifted his price target to $145 from $135, maintaining Buy. JP Morgan raised to $139. Barclays moved to $135. Guggenheim went to $120. Only Wells Fargo bucked the trend, trimming marginally to $146 from $148 — while keeping Overweight.
The consensus remains firmly at Buy. Twenty-one analysts hold Buy ratings. Six carry Outperform.
Current price: $104.72. The street's targets suggest 30–40% upside from here.
Short interest sits at 1.33% of free float — low in absolute terms, but it jumped 17.5% in a single session on May 11. That is the biggest one-day move in recent weeks.
The cost to borrow tells the same story. It climbed 64.6% over the past week to 0.42% APR. That is still cheap in nominal terms. But the direction matters: bears are paying meaningfully more to maintain positions.
Availability remains ample. The borrow market is not squeezed. But the combination of rising short interest and rising cost to borrow suggests fresh shorts are entering at elevated cost — into a stock where options traders are positioned the other way.
The largest holders are not standing still. Wellington Management added 10.8 million shares in the most recent reported quarter. JP Morgan Asset Management added 6.7 million. Vanguard added 7.0 million. BlackRock added 5.6 million.
That is broad-based institutional accumulation across the top of the register.
What to watch: Whether short interest continues building into analyst upgrades — and whether the options call skew persists as the stock digests its post-earnings gains.
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