ZTG just saw one of the sharpest short-interest jumps in recent memory. Shares short rose 6,682% in a single week — from roughly 2,509 to 170,152 shares. The stock simultaneously gained 46% over the same period.
The borrow market reflects the demand. Availability has tightened sharply, with utilization sitting at 96.35% — just below the 52-week peak of 100%. That leaves fewer than four shares available for every hundred already borrowed. Cost to borrow stands at 76.5% APR as of April 28. That's down from a March peak of 167.9% but still firmly elevated territory.
The combination is unusual. Short interest surged while the stock climbed 46% in a week and 94% over the past month. That sets up a compressed lending pool against a rising price.
FINRA's fortnightly data corroborates the picture. Official short interest sat at 179,958 shares as of April 15, with days to cover at just 1.0. The rapid position build after that date — visible in the daily estimate — suggests fresh shorts entered aggressively as the stock rallied.
The ORTEX short score reached 70.4 on April 24, up sharply from around 59.5 the prior week. It sits at 70.0 as of April 27. ZTG ranks in the 2nd percentile for utilization across the ORTEX universe — meaning almost every stock has more available borrow. The short score rank places it in the overall.
Cost to borrow peaked at 167.9% in early March. It has since pulled back to 76.5%. That's still more than double what most stocks trade at. The 1-month change is down 51.5%, but the absolute level keeps short-side entry expensive.
The CTB history shows persistent elevation since late February. This is not a one-day spike. Every session since early March has printed above 50% APR.
The float is extremely concentrated. Top shareholders — Ione Enterprise Service Company Limited (45.3%), Wai Ian Ng (13.9%), and Banghe Investment Limited (4.2%) — hold the overwhelming majority of shares. Only five institutional holders appear in the data. UBS Asset Management added 7,966 shares as of December 31, but the position is negligible in scale.
Concentration at this level limits the borrowable pool structurally. When short demand spikes, availability tightens fast. That is exactly what the data shows this week.
What to watch: Whether availability continues to compress toward the 52-week floor of 0% borrow availability, and whether cost to borrow re-accelerates toward the March highs as new short positions roll over.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open ZTG 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.
