Three converging signals on NVO are pointing in the same direction. Short sellers are unwinding positions at pace. Borrowing costs have collapsed. Options traders just flipped to their most bullish stance in a year.
Short interest in Novo Nordisk has fallen sharply over the past month. From a peak of roughly 23.5 million shares in early April, estimated short positions have dropped to 13.9 million — a decline of more than 40% in six weeks.
The weekly pace of unwinding has been consistent. Short interest fell 17% in the week to May 15, and another drop of similar magnitude followed in the week to May 18. That's the lowest level since early April.
The borrow market confirms the retreat. Cost to borrow has collapsed from 4.1% on May 8 — a brief spike — to just 0.77% by mid-month. Availability stands at over 4,500%, meaning the lending pool has ample capacity relative to demand. There is simply no pressure in the borrow market.
The options market is signalling something more forward-looking. The put-call ratio hit 0.66 on May 18 — the lowest level in 52 weeks. The 20-day mean sits at 0.69, and the current reading is 2.5 standard deviations below that average.
That is a statistically significant shift. Call buying has accelerated even as the stock pulled back 1% on Monday and is down roughly 4.6% over the past week. Traders are paying for upside optionality despite near-term price softness.
The stock is up about 9.3% over the past month, suggesting the broader trend is positive even if short-term momentum has stalled.
The ORTEX stock score sits at 79.8, with Growth (84.0) and Quality (78.8) as the strongest pillars. The EPS surprise percentile ranks at 92nd — well above the sector median. The dividend score ranks at the 98th percentile.
Valuation multiples have moved over the past month. The P/E stands at 13.1, up roughly 1.2 points over 30 days. EV/EBITDA is 9.7, down 0.26 points. Both remain modest for a GLP-1 franchise leader.
Institutional flow is also constructive. Capital Research added 12.7 million shares as of April 30. Vanguard added 6.4 million shares. T. Rowe Price added 1.9 million. These are not passive rebalancing flows — they are active managers building positions.
The analyst picture is more cautious. Goldman Sachs downgraded to Neutral in March, cutting the target from $63 to $41. JP Morgan also moved to Neutral in February. The mean analyst price target sits at $300, though that figure appears to reference the Danish-listed shares (NOVO B) rather than the NYSE ADR at $44.
Next earnings are due 5 August. The stock moved +2.1% on the day of its last print in May and +4.9% over the subsequent five days. With put-call at a 52-week low and short interest near a six-week trough, any earnings surprise to the upside would find relatively few bears left to cover.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open NVO 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.
