Uber Technologies heads into the back half of May with the most bearish options positioning of the past year — while the stock quietly sheds nearly 4% over the month to $74.09.
The clearest signal this week is in options. The put/call ratio jumped to 1.20 on May 19, more than two standard deviations above its 20-day average of 1.05, and close to the 52-week high of 1.20. That level of put demand stands out against the prior week's readings, which were broadly in line with recent averages. The spike looks less like a hedge against a known event and more like a sudden rush for downside protection — the next earnings date is not until August 4, so there is no imminent catalyst to explain the move away cleanly.
Short interest tells a more measured story, though the direction of travel is worth noting. SI has crept up to 2.9% of the free float, up roughly 5% on the week — a steady rebuild after shorts covered sharply in late April. That post-earnings short cover brought SI down from a local high of around 3.0% in mid-April to a trough near 2.7% in early May. The partial rebuild now brings it back to where it was before those April covers. Borrowing costs are still modest at 0.41% and barely a squeeze risk; availability remains extremely loose at 2,302%, meaning there is ample supply for anyone wanting to establish new short positions. The borrow market is simply not under stress.
The Street remains broadly constructive despite the price drift. After Uber's May 6 earnings beat — the stock rose 5.2% on the day — multiple firms raised targets the following morning. JP Morgan lifted to $110, TD Cowen to $118, Truist to $112, and Wells Fargo to $102. The consensus price target now sits around $104, implying roughly 40% upside from current levels. The consensus rating is a hold, with six analysts there, but the direction of analyst traffic post-earnings was unambiguously positive on price targets. The bull case centres on Uber's platform scale and profitable growth trajectory; the bears flag macro uncertainty in its core markets and unresolved questions around autonomous vehicle monetisation. On valuation, the forward PE has compressed to 20x, down about 1.5 turns over 30 days — reflecting the stock's drift lower even as earnings estimates have held firm. The EV/EBITDA multiple is tighter still at 12.5x, having fallen around half a turn over the same window.
Institutional positioning looks stable. Vanguard holds 9.5% of shares and BlackRock 7.4%, with Capital Research adding over 10 million shares in the most recent reporting period to bring its stake to 6.7%. Pershing Square holds 1.5% and trimmed modestly. Insider activity on May 15 was routine — small RSU-related sells from the CMO and CLO, each well below $200,000 in aggregate, with offsetting awards. Nothing in the ownership picture points to unusual conviction shifts on either side.
The tension to watch is whether the options spike proves transient — a single-session anomaly — or whether the put/call ratio stays elevated through the coming week. If it holds near 52-week highs while SI continues its gradual rebuild and the stock stays below $75, the convergence of those three signals would mark a notably more guarded setup heading into summer.
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