Three converging signals are flashing on CRML simultaneously. Short positioning remains elevated, the borrow market is at its tightest on record, and options hedging is climbing. Together they paint a sharply pressured picture for Critical Metals Corp.
Availability has collapsed to 1.2% — the lowest on record for this stock. That means for every 80 shares already borrowed, just one remains available in the lending pool. This is not a new condition. CRML has spent the majority of the past month at near-zero availability, with readings below 0.2% on multiple days in late April and early May.
Cost to borrow reflects that tightness. At 30.6% APR, it has fallen sharply from a peak of 112% in late April. But the month-on-month change is still +87%. Borrowing CRML remains expensive by any standard.
SI % FF stands at 19.6% — firmly in high territory. But the direction has shifted. Short interest fell 12.6% over the past week, reversing a month of accumulation that had pushed the figure up nearly 18% from mid-April levels. The ORTEX short score sits at 80.5, down from 83.3 two weeks ago. The retreat in SI and the softening short score suggest some bears are taking profits or cutting exposure.
That said, 19.6% of float remains significant. With availability this tight, any fresh wave of short covering faces a very thin borrow pool.
The put/call ratio hit 0.5557 on May 18. That is 2.7 standard deviations above the 20-day mean of 0.47. Options traders are hedging more aggressively than at any point in the recent window. The stock is down 16% over the past month and 13% over the past week. The options market is pricing continued caution.
The institutional picture is mixed. European Lithium Limited, the largest holder at 32.4% of shares, cut its position by 7.5 million shares in its most recent filing. Against that, BlackRock added 734k shares, UBS Asset Management added 1.1 million, and Morgan Stanley added 1.4 million. Smaller names including Marex Group and Hudson River Trading initiated new positions entirely.
The next earnings event is scheduled for June 11. CRML's recent earnings history has been volatile — a +35% move following January 2026 results, followed by -8% and -2% on the two most recent prints.
What to watch: Whether the softening in short interest continues into next week, or whether near-zero borrow availability chokes off further covering and forces shorts to hold into the June 11 earnings date.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
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