TRIP has become one of the most heavily shorted mid-cap internet names in the US, and a brutal week has done nothing to reduce that pressure.
The short interest picture is stark. Roughly 27% of Tripadvisor's free float is estimated to be sold short — a level that has climbed around seven percentage points over the past month. Days to cover runs at nearly 12 on the FINRA-reported figure, among the highest readings in the sector. The ORTEX short score sits at 74.2, in the 4th percentile of all stocks — meaning it ranks as one of the most shorted names in the entire universe. That combination of high SI and elevated days-to-cover leaves little ambiguity about where institutional conviction sits: heavily against the stock.
The borrow market, however, is not flashing imminent squeeze pressure. Cost to borrow has been remarkably contained throughout this period, running between 0.38% and 0.65% APR over the past six weeks — well below the levels associated with a genuine borrow squeeze. Availability has risen notably this week: it climbed from roughly 34% on Monday to 40% by Thursday, moving away from the 43% peak seen in late April but still well within "tight" territory. The 52-week high on availability was 51%, meaning the lending pool still has room to absorb more shorts without a hard squeeze. This is important context — the shorts are dug in, but they are not facing forced cover pressure from the borrow market.
Options positioning tells a different story from the past few weeks. The put/call ratio dropped to 1.01 on Friday — nearly two and a half standard deviations below its 20-day average of 1.13. That is the most bullish options reading in weeks, and a notable reversal from the prolonged defensive posture that had PCR running above 1.15 for most of April and into early May. Something in the options market shifted this week, even as the stock itself fell 9.5% over the same period. The RSI sits at 32.7, just above the oversold threshold, adding a technical dimension to watch.
Analysts leaned more negative in the days following the May 7 earnings print. Barclays lowered its target to $9 from $10 while keeping an Underweight rating — the first target now sitting below the current price. JP Morgan also cut from $12 to $11, maintaining Underweight. The consensus mean price target is $13.38, implying roughly 41% upside from current levels, but the distribution matters: the Street is split, with BTIG holding a Buy and a $15 target while two major banks sit Underweight. The valuation is not obviously cheap — PE has compressed to around 6.6x on a trailing basis, and EV/EBITDA runs at 4.1x, which looks inexpensive in isolation, though the flat revenue trajectory argues against a re-rating catalyst.
The fundamental debate is clean. Bulls point to Viator's 15% GBV growth to $1.3 billion and the company's own forecast that marketplace businesses will represent roughly 50% of total EBITDA by 2025, up from 35%. TheFork is also expected to grow revenue in the mid-teens. Bears counter that total group revenue of $411 million came in flat year-over-year and missed consensus, while the Hotels & Other segment shrank 15% — the legacy core of the business is deteriorating faster than the new segments are growing. Starboard Value, with a 4.4% stake, continues to hold but trimmed slightly in early April, suggesting the activist is patient but not adding. Columbia Management, now the third-largest holder at 7.1%, added over 800,000 shares in Q1.
The next earnings event is scheduled for June 29. The most recent print on May 7 produced a 6.5% one-day decline and a 14% five-day fall — a reminder that the stock has been punishing holders even when expectations were modest. Whether the sharp drop in put/call ratio this week reflects genuine optimism building ahead of June, or simply positioning rotation, is the question worth tracking into next month's release.
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