MultiSensor AI Holdings heads into its May 14 earnings report with one of the more turbulent short-interest histories on Nasdaq this year — and a stock that has endured punishment on every recent print.
The dramatic story here is the collapse in short interest over the past month. Shares short plunged roughly 94% on a one-month basis, from more than 2.8 million shares shorted in early April to just under 100,000 now — a near-total unwind of what was clearly a crowded bet at the height of the April volatility. That retreat came alongside a cost-to-borrow that spiked briefly to nearly 18% in mid-April before settling back to just above 10%. Today, availability is running at roughly 639% of outstanding short interest, signalling that the lending pool is wide open. Shorts who want to re-enter face no meaningful friction on borrow. The ORTEX short score reads 54, elevated but well below panic-level territory, and the utilization rank sits in just the 46th percentile — corroborating the picture of a lending market that is loose, not stressed. The stock itself closed at $5.83 on Wednesday, up 3.4% on the day but still down about 6% on the week and 3% over the past month.
The closest correlated peer offers a sharp contrast worth noting. Gauzy Ltd. surged 49% in a single session and is up more than 100% on the week — making it the standout mover in the peer group. has not followed that spike. The peer group otherwise is scattered: gained 14% on the week, while and fell 17% and 22% respectively. MSAI is roughly in the middle of a very wide dispersion, which offers limited directional read-through.
Ownership is thin but concentrated. 325 Capital, LLC holds about 33% of shares and was an aggressive buyer in late 2025, taking part in what the data shows as over $7 million in net insider and related buying across the 90-day window through early January. That stake is large enough that any signal from the print about business trajectory will land with amplified weight on the shareholder register. The CFO sold a nominal amount — under $5,000 worth — in January, which is more noteworthy for its small size than its direction.
The historical pattern is unambiguous and sobering. All four of the most recent earnings events produced negative first-day reactions, ranging from -7% to -17%. The five-day window after the March 27 report partially recovered (+9%), but the prior two prints produced further declines of -9% and -21% over five days. That track record of initial selling has not prevented the stock from trading higher on a broader timeline — the April short squeeze suggests at least episodic speculative interest — but it does frame what the market has tended to do when given fresh fundamental data.
Tonight's print will test whether the dramatic unwinding of April's short position reflects genuine re-evaluation of the company's fundamentals, or simply tactical covering ahead of a volatile event in a micro-cap with a proven tendency to disappoint on the day.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open MSAI 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.
