Short interest in NOW hit 23.8% of free float — up 24.7% in a single week. Options traders are moving the opposite direction. The divergence is the story.
ServiceNow's short interest stood at roughly 19.1% of float just seven trading days ago. It has since climbed to 23.8% — the highest level since April. The one-month change is even sharper: SI is up 77% over 30 days, rising from approximately 13.5% of float at the start of April.
This is a meaningful and accelerating short build. The daily share count crossed 49.4 million as of May 12. At 1.6 days to cover, any reversal would move fast.
The ORTEX short score has responded. It jumped from 33.8 on May 8 to 36.5 on May 11 — the most significant three-day move in recent history. The score remains below the alarm threshold, but the trajectory is clear.
The put/call ratio tells the opposite story. It sits at 0.74, the lowest level in two months. The 20-day mean is 0.77. The z-score is -2.18 — nearly two standard deviations below the recent average, a statistically significant tilt toward calls.
Short sellers are pressing the position. Options traders are buying calls. Both camps are active. One of them is wrong.
Cost to borrow has tripled in a week — from 0.14% on May 5 to 0.45% on May 12. The 232% week-on-week increase matches the speed of the short interest build. Availability remains comfortable given the broader lending pool, so this is demand-driven pressure rather than a supply squeeze. Short sellers are paying more because more of them want in, not because shares are running out.
Analysts reviewed the stock last week following its May 4 earnings call. The reaction was mixed. Evercore ISI raised its target from $140 to $150. Barclays lifted its to $134. Bernstein went to $236. But RBC held at $121, and Macquarie sits at $109 — close to the current $89 price.
The mean analyst target is $145. That implies more than 60% upside from current levels. Yet the bear case is specific: CRPO guidance came in $207 million below seasonal norms. Federal government business fell 49% sequentially. Open sales positions dropped 33% in the quarter.
The next earnings event is May 21.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open NOW on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
