Hoth Therapeutics heads into its May 20 earnings release with short sellers in full retreat — the most dramatic unwind seen in months.
Short interest has collapsed over the past four weeks. At its peak in mid-April, SI % FF climbed above 13% of float. By May 14 it had fallen to just 3.1%, a drop of roughly 59% over the month. The week-on-week slide was even sharper: from nearly 8% of float last Friday to 3.1% now, a halving in five trading sessions. Whatever drove the short build in April — and the cost to borrow hit an extraordinary 258% in late April — that trade is being rapidly unwound.
The borrow market tells a story of remarkable normalisation. From that peak CTB of 259% on April 20, borrowing costs have crashed to just under 20% as of May 14. That is still elevated by historical standards — the stock traded at around 2% CTB in early April — but the direction of travel is unambiguous. Availability, meanwhile, has loosened to 293% of current short interest, roughly three times the shares already borrowed sitting available for new shorts. That is a relaxed lending environment compared to the stranglehold seen five weeks ago. The short score has followed suit, dropping from 62 on May 1 to 51 by May 14 — retreating from elevated territory toward a neutral reading.
The one analyst publicly covering HOTH, Jason Kolbert at D. Boral Capital, has maintained a Buy rating and $5.00 target through every data point in the record. The stock trades at $0.63. That $5.00 target implies an enormous implied return, and given the gap relative to the current price, it is difficult to treat that figure as a near-term market view — note it as a standalone data point rather than directional guidance. The valuation multiples are not particularly informative for a pre-revenue biotech burning cash. Factor scores are broadly unremarkable: the DTC rank at 82 is the one standout, reflecting how quickly remaining shorts could need to cover relative to average daily volume.
The upcoming May 20 earnings print is the near-term focus. Recent reactions to HOTH's results have been mixed but often negative on a five-day view. After a March 2026 announcement, the stock fell 8% the next day and 31% over five sessions. The November 2025 print saw a 1-day drop of 1.7% with flat subsequent performance. The one exception was a positive 5.8% single-day pop in April 2026, though that faded over the week. Heading in, the pipeline story centres on HT-KIT, an orphan-designated therapy targeting rare KIT-driven cancers, alongside the EGFR inhibitor rash program.
Closest peers were mostly lower on the week: CGTX fell 5.8%, LBRX slid 7.2%, and NKTR dropped 13.8%, while RANI bucked the group with an 11.9% gain. The pattern suggests small-cap pharma broadly faced headwinds this week, making HOTH's 5.5% decline relatively contained in context.
The May 20 print — and whatever pipeline update accompanies it — is now the single variable that matters most for whether the short retreat continues or reverses.
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