Two analyst upgrades hit Viking Holdings in the past week. The options market has noticed.
Truist Securities upgraded VIK to Buy this morning, lifting its target from $75 to $102. That follows Wells Fargo's move on May 18 — also an upgrade, with a target raised from $79 to $109. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Susquehanna, and Barclays all raised targets after Q1 results on May 14, too. Only Morgan Stanley cut its rating, stepping to Equal-Weight from Overweight. The consensus remains a firm Buy, with the mean target at $95.05 — roughly 13% above the current $83.90 close.
The put/call ratio has collapsed over four consecutive sessions. It stood at 1.97 on May 18. By May 21 it had dropped to 1.16 — 2.6 standard deviations below the 20-day mean of 1.74. That's the most aggressive call positioning since late April. The contrast with April is stark: for most of that month, the PCR ran between 1.90 and 2.01. That protective put demand has been almost entirely unwound. Options traders are now positioned for upside with notable conviction.
Short interest jumped 21% in a single session on May 21, reaching 2.98% of the free float. That's a 41% build over the past month. The pace is notable. The absolute level, however, is not alarming — just under 9.4 million shares. Availability remains extremely loose at 2,258% — roughly 22 shares available to borrow for every one currently borrowed. The borrow market is wide open. Cost to borrow sits at 0.46%, up 39% over the past month but still a low absolute level. The short build looks more like a hedge against the rally than a conviction directional bet.
Capital Research added 5.4 million shares in Q1. AQR built a 3.1 million share position. Point72 added 2.3 million shares. BlackRock added 2.2 million. Multiple large institutions moved in the same direction. EPS momentum scores of 76 (30-day) and 75 (90-day) support the earnings trajectory that analysts are rewarding with higher targets.
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