HUT is now in a different phase from the one described in last week's note: the post-earnings momentum has reversed, the stock is down 13% on the week to $93.31, and options positioning has shifted meaningfully toward protection.
The clearest shift is in how options traders are positioned. The put/call ratio has climbed to 0.75, nearly two standard deviations above its 20-day average of 0.59 — the highest reading of the past year at 0.79 is now close. That is a material change from early May, when the PCR was running below 0.50 on the wave of post-earnings enthusiasm. The move suggests traders are paying up for downside protection as the stock digests its 25% single-day earnings gap and a subsequent rally that took it above $107 before the current fade. The next earnings event is flagged for June 11 — a natural focal point for anyone hedging near-term risk.
Short interest has edged higher on the week but the broader trend remains one of gradual unwinding. Short interest is now 15.4% of the free float, fractionally up from roughly 15.3% at the start of the week. That is still well below the 19% range documented in last week's note, confirming the multi-week short-covering trend remains intact even if it has stalled. The borrow market tells the same story: cost to borrow has risen 46% over the week to 0.68%, but in absolute terms that remains very low. Availability has loosened dramatically — at over 1,000%, there are roughly ten shares available to borrow for every one currently shorted. That is a complete reversal from the tighter conditions seen in April. The ORTEX short score has drifted lower through the week, from 59 on May 6 to 53 now, reflecting the reduction in short pressure.
The analyst community remains broadly constructive, though the frenzied target-raising of the post-earnings week has quieted. Jefferies initiated coverage on May 14 with a Buy and a $156 target — the most bullish on the Street. Earlier revisions from B. Riley ($130), Canaccord ($130), and Needham ($128) remain in place, all issued after the Q1 print. The consensus mean price target is $115.75 against a current price of $93.31, implying the Street sees roughly 24% upside from here. Every analyst covering the stock rates it Buy or equivalent. The bull case centres on HPC infrastructure buildout, high-value cloud contracts, and a strong balance sheet. The bear case focuses on revenue concentration in Bitcoin mining and geographic risk from near-total US exposure. Valuation multiples are stretched — EV/EBITDA is running above 172 — though that figure has come down sharply over the past week as the price has pulled back.
Institutional ownership has a notable feature worth flagging. Lone Pine Capital entered the register in Q1 with a fresh 6.1 million share position — 5.4% of shares outstanding — reported as of March 31. Coatue holds 8.1% and has not changed its position recently. BlackRock added modestly to reach 7.7%. On the insider side, director Rick Rickertsen sold approximately $3.7 million of stock across two transactions on May 11 and May 13, at prices of $105 and $110 respectively. Those sales occurred near the recent highs and are worth noting given the stock has since pulled back below both levels. The CLO also sold roughly $808,000 worth of shares on May 4, shortly after receiving an award grant. Net insider activity over 90 days is a small positive in share terms, largely reflecting the award grants rather than open-market buying.
The pattern from the two most recent earnings prints is vivid: a 39.5% one-day move in the prior quarter and a 25.7% gain on May 6, each followed by strong five-day follow-through. The June 11 event therefore arrives with a high bar already priced in, a stock that has given back roughly 13% from its post-earnings peak, and options positioning that is the most defensive it has been all year — the gap between where the stock trades and what analysts expect it to be worth is the primary tension heading into the next print.
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