HSDT exits its Q1 earnings print with a split verdict — and options traders already tilting to the upside ahead of a second event this coming Monday.
Revenue came in at $3.62 million, handily beating the $3.40 million estimate and representing a dramatic year-on-year jump from just $49,000. The EPS side was messier. The loss per share of $1.30 missed the $0.48 estimate by a wide margin, and net loss ballooned to $99.8 million. The company also moved ahead with an $8 million equity raise at $2.60 per share, targeting Pacific Backbone nodes operational by late June. The stock closed Friday at $2.30, down 3.8% on the session but still up 3.6% on the week and 16% over the past month.
The options market is leaning constructively. The put/call ratio has dropped to 0.30, meaningfully below its 20-day average of 0.34 — about 1.4 standard deviations on the bullish side. This is a notable shift from late April, when the PCR was consistently running above 0.34 and the setup looked more defensive. The move reflects growing call interest rather than a retreat of put hedging. Against a 52-week PCR range with a high of 13.0 and a low near zero, the current reading is firmly at the call-dominated end of recent ranges.
Short interest tells a quieter story. Shorts have been covering — SI % of free float has dropped from around 3.5% in late April to 2.7% now, with a 15.6% week-on-week reduction in shares short. Borrow cost has eased considerably, falling from above 12% in early April to 5.8% today, its lowest level in roughly six weeks. Availability runs at 117% of short interest, which means the lending pool is ample relative to current demand. With the ORTEX short score sitting at 54.6 and drifting lower over the past two weeks, there's no building squeeze pressure here. The borrow market is relaxed.
The ownership picture is worth flagging. Executive Chairman Choon Wee Chee received an award of 1.1 million shares on May 11 — a non-cash event, but meaningful in scale at roughly 0.45% of the company. He already held 11.8% of shares outstanding per the most recent filing. The top of the register also includes Kathmere Capital Management, which initiated a position of nearly 4.6 million shares in Q1 2026 — a new entry that more than doubled its reported stake from zero. That's a notable accumulation for a company of this size. Wai Shing Chung also added 1.9 million shares to reach a 9.4% holding. Concentrated, strategic-looking ownership at the top of the book.
One analyst covers the stock — Maxim Group assumed coverage in early April with a Buy and a $4.00 price target, implying 74% upside to last close. That single-analyst consensus limits the Street signal's value, but the direction is clear.
Peers had a mixed session. ASST fell 5.2% on the day but gained 5.5% on the week, broadly tracking HSDT's own trajectory. STSS and AEMD both slid on the week, down 6% each, making HSDT a relative outperformer in this peer cluster. MDAI stood out with a 14% single-day jump.
Another event is already on the calendar for Monday May 19. Whether the market treats that as a fresh catalyst or a residual Q1 re-rating will determine whether the PCR's constructive tilt holds into next week's session.
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