Options traders are loading up on calls. Short sellers are simultaneously building positions. With earnings a week away, GE is sending mixed signals across every data layer.
The put/call ratio hit 0.70 on April 29 — the lowest in nearly two months. That's 2.5 standard deviations below the 20-day mean of 0.90. Call buying has accelerated sharply over the past week, with the PCR falling from 1.00 on April 20 to 0.70 today. The 52-week low is 0.57, so there is still room to run, but the directional shift is striking.
At the same time, short interest climbed to 1.25% of free float on April 28. That's up 7.95% in a single day and 13.3% over the past week. At 1.25% of float, the overall short position is modest. But the rate of change stands out. Month-on-month, SI is up nearly 20%.
Cost to borrow moved with it. CTB hit 0.52% on April 28, a 53% weekly rise. That follows a dip to 0.09% on April 23 — an unusually sharp intra-week swing. Borrow availability remains wide enough that this isn't a squeeze setup, but the CTB uptick confirms real new short demand, not just a data artefact.
Post-earnings, UBS and Morgan Stanley both lowered price targets — to $350 and $400 respectively — while maintaining Buy and Overweight ratings. RBC held at $355 Outperform. The consensus across 14 analysts remains Buy, with a mean target of $350.45 against a current price of $289.20. That implies roughly 21% upside to consensus.
The stock fell 9% on April 21 after its most recent earnings print. It has since recovered 2.3% over the past month. The options market appears to be fading that post-earnings dip.
GE reports again on May 5. The divergence between aggressive call positioning and a quietly rising short book will likely resolve around that date.
Data summary
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