LiqTech International has put up a striking 30% gain in the past month, touching $2.25. Yet beneath that momentum, short positions have been creeping higher and borrow costs have nearly doubled.
The price move is the headline. LIQT closed at $2.25 on May 12, up 7% on the week and up 30% from a month ago. That followed an earnings-related catalyst — the most recent earnings event prior to this week's print showed the stock surging 38.5% on the day and 45% over the following five sessions, a pattern that clearly attracted momentum buyers into the name. With two earnings-linked events registered on May 13 itself, this week's action may be carrying some of that same post-result energy.
Short interest tells a more complicated story. At roughly 0.9% of the free float, the absolute level is too low to flag as crowded — shorts are not the dominant force here. But the direction of travel matters. Estimated short positions rose 36% over the past month, peaking near mid-April before easing back 5% this week to 68,300 shares. That mid-April spike — where positions briefly jumped above 85,000 shares — looks like a reactive build into the rally, with some of those shorts since covered. The borrow market has tightened in parallel: cost to borrow has climbed to 11.6%, nearly double where it was six weeks ago and at a multi-month high. Availability remains comfortable in absolute terms, so there is no squeeze pressure, but the rising cost signals growing demand for borrows as the stock has run.
The sole covering analyst is Ascendiant Capital's Lucas Ward, who raised his target from $4.20 to $4.30 in March. That puts the mean target at $4.30 — nearly double the current price of $2.25 — implying the Street sees room to run if execution improves. The bull case rests on 39–63% year-over-year revenue growth in 2026, improving gross margins, and underused manufacturing capacity. The bear case is more immediate: a large oil & gas systems order was pushed out, revenue missed estimates in the most recent reported quarter, and order conversion visibility remains low. The EPS surprise factor score ranks in the 86th percentile, suggesting LiqTech has a habit of beating expectations when orders do land, but a $7.4 million cash balance and an ongoing burn rate keep the balance sheet in focus. The ORTEX short score of 44.7 sits near the middle of the range, consistent with mixed signals rather than a strong directional lean.
Ownership is tightly held. Bleichroeder LP controls nearly 32% of shares, and the top ten holders account for the vast majority of the float. That concentration can amplify both upside and downside moves — thin liquidity means large percentage swings on modest volume. The most recent insider activity, from early January, was a pair of sales by the CEO and CFO at $1.49, a price well below current levels. Those sales were small in dollar terms and appear routine rather than alarming, but no insider buying has been recorded in the data window.
What to watch next is whether the short rebuild — now 36% higher over the past month — continues to accelerate, or whether the weekly 5% unwind seen this week marks the beginning of a genuine cover. The gap between the $2.25 price and the $4.30 analyst target is wide; how quickly LiqTech can convert its order pipeline into reported revenue will determine whether that gap narrows from the top down or the bottom up.
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