Options traders are piling into calls on Q at an unusual rate. The put-call ratio crashed to 0.28 on Tuesday — 2.1 standard deviations below its 20-day average of 0.45. That's a decisive tilt toward bullish positioning, arriving just six days before earnings on May 19.
The stock has given traders plenty to work with. Q jumped 9.9% on Tuesday alone. It's up 14.9% over the past week and nearly 29% over the past month.
A PCR of 0.28 means roughly one put traded for every 3.6 calls. That's near the 52-week floor of 0.10. The 52-week high was 1.09, which gives a sense of how much sentiment has rotated. Six weeks ago the ratio sat comfortably above 0.60. The shift lower has been swift and broad.
Heavy call buying ahead of an earnings date typically reflects either genuine conviction in the print, or hedging by short sellers covering risk. Both are plausible here.
Short interest climbed 19.6% in a single week, reaching 4.07 million shares as of May 11. That's a 30.8% rise over the past month. Shorts are adding exposure into the price strength — not retreating from it.
The borrow market reflects that demand. Cost to borrow rose 73% over the past week to 0.47% APR. It remains inexpensive in absolute terms, and availability in the lending pool is still comfortable. But the directional move is clear: more shares are being borrowed as the stock climbs.
The ORTEX short score ticked up to 30.4 from 29.2 a week ago — a modest but consistent move higher that aligns with the increase in borrowed shares.
RBC Capital's Arun Viswanathan raised his price target to $150 following the April 24 earnings event, maintaining an Outperform rating. The stock has since blown past that level, now trading at $168.36. The consensus mean target sits at $166.25 — the stock is already trading above it.
That gap matters. When a stock outruns its analyst targets, the next earnings call often becomes a reset event. Bulls will want revenue or margin guidance to justify the premium. Bears are likely betting the stock has moved too far, too fast.
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