Sow Good Inc. is flashing multiple warning signals in its lending market. The freeze-dried candy maker rallied 67% last week — and short sellers are paying a steep price to hold their positions.
Availability in SOWG's lending pool has tightened severely. Utilization sits at 91.19% — just below the 52-week peak of 96.28% hit on April 21. That leaves roughly one share available for every ten already lent out.
Cost to borrow reflects that scarcity. CTB stands at 96.93% APR, up 122% in a single week. The month-on-month move is more striking still: CTB has risen 627% since mid-April, when it sat near 13-14%. Shorts opened during that stretch are now paying nearly seven times more to maintain those positions.
Short shares outstanding climbed 25% week-on-week to 343,213 shares as of May 12. That gain came even as the stock ripped higher — shorts added exposure into a 67% rally, not after it faded.
The one-month picture is more dramatic. Short interest has risen 148% since mid-April. That surge coincided with the CTB spike from ~14% to nearly 100%. Whoever built those positions in April is now facing a sharply more expensive borrow.
The timing adds another layer. Sow Good reports earnings on May 15 — tomorrow. Recent earnings history has been volatile. The last four prints produced one-day moves of +11%, -15%, +4%, and +24%. Shorts holding into the print are exposed to that range of outcomes while paying near-100% annualised borrow.
The ORTEX short score stands at 63.6, placing the stock in elevated territory. The utilization rank is 2nd percentile of all tracked securities — meaning almost no other stock has a tighter borrow market relative to history.
Watch whether the borrow rate holds above 90% through the earnings print — a further squeeze in availability could force position unwinding regardless of the fundamental outcome.
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