Three signals converged this week on Lucid Group. Short interest sits near its highest level in months. Options sentiment is shifting. And the borrow market — frozen for weeks — is finally showing signs of life.
From May 4 through May 15, availability of shares to borrow sat between 0.02% and 0.49%. That is effectively zero — fewer than one share available for every 200 already lent out. The lending pool was fully consumed.
As of May 19, availability has climbed to 2.75%. That is still very tight, but the move — up from near-zero lows — marks the first meaningful loosening since late April. The prior article from May 13 noted the pool was fully consumed and borrow cost had eased from a 33% April peak. Both trends have continued: cost to borrow now sits at 12.07%, roughly stable over the past week.
The reopening matters because it means some new short positions can be initiated. It does not, however, mean the borrow market is easy. At 2.75% availability, roughly one share remains for every 36 already borrowed.
SI was near 34.6% of float in the May 13 note. The current reading is 18.99% of free float — the difference reflects a float calculation update, not a reduction in short positioning. In absolute share terms, short interest has continued to rise: from around 59.2 million shares on May 15 to 61.5 million on May 19, a 3.9% increase in four days.
The ORTEX short score stands at 77.8, placing LCID in the 3rd percentile for short score rank across the market — meaning it is more heavily shorted than 97% of stocks in the universe.
The put/call ratio dropped to 1.18 on May 20. That is the lowest reading in roughly two months and sits 2.66 standard deviations below the 20-day mean of 1.37. The 52-week range runs from 0.10 to 2.42, so the current reading is far from extreme in historical terms. Still, the directional move is notable. Relative call buying has picked up even as short interest continues to climb — a divergence worth watching ahead of the next earnings event on June 4.
Analysts have been cutting targets steadily. Citigroup lowered its target from $17 to $14 on May 15. TD Cowen cut from $10 to $7 on May 6. Benchmark downgraded from Buy to Hold on the same day. The consensus sits at Sell. The current price is $5.68, down 22% over the past month.
Uber Technologies stands out in the holder list, recently adding 24 million shares to hold 9.67% of the company. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia remains the dominant shareholder at 45.4%, unchanged.
The June 4 earnings date is the next concrete catalyst. The stock has fallen 7.5% the day after each of its two most recent prints. With borrow availability just starting to reopen and the PCR at a two-month low, the setup into that event is unusually charged from multiple angles.
Key data (as of May 19–21, 2026)
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