GE Call Buyers Clash With Rising Short Bets Ahead of Earnings

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.

Options traders go bullish

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.

Short sellers push back

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.

Analysts trimmed targets, stayed bullish

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.

What to watch

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

• SI % of FF: 1.25% (Apr 28), up 13.3% w/w, up 19.8% m/m
• Cost to borrow: 0.52%, up 53% week-on-week
• Put/call ratio: 0.70, –2.5 SD from 20-day mean (0.90)
• Price: $289.20, +1.6% on the day, +0.9% on the week
• Consensus: Buy, mean target $350.45
• Next earnings: May 5, 2026