Tempus AI returns to the earnings confessional on May 29 — this time with a put/call ratio that has jumped back to near-record levels just days after the last print landed without drama.
The options market is flashing its most defensive reading of the year. The put/call ratio closed at 0.66 on May 26, more than three standard deviations above its 20-day average of 0.50 — virtually matching the 52-week high of 0.664 that triggered the alarm bell ahead of the May 21 event. That prior spike unwound almost entirely in the sessions that followed, with the PCR dropping back into the 0.48 range. The fact it has snapped back to the same elevated level within days of that reset is notable. Borrow availability has also tightened — currently at 33%, down roughly 11% on the week — and while that is looser than the 19% low reached on May 15, the direction is clear. The lending market is not relaxing into this print.
Short interest is holding its ground at 15.4% of free float. The position is essentially flat week-on-week, down only 2.5%, and has barely moved since late April despite the stock falling around 10% over the past month to $46.66. Shorts are not covering. The ORTEX short score of 73.1 ranks in the 8th percentile of the universe — meaning the stock carries more short-side pressure than 92% of tracked names. That is not a new development, but it is one that has not faded despite a recent earnings print that caused only a modest 0.65% one-day reaction.
The debate between bulls and bears has narrowed to one question: whether the path to durable profitability is real or still distant. Bulls point to the Adj. EBITDA inflection achieved in 2025 and the company's expanding oncology data partnerships as signs of genuine operational traction. Bears focus on valuation — the EV/EBITDA multiple runs near 95x — and the risk that revenue growth disappoints or that Intelligent Diagnostics adoption stalls under regulatory or budget pressure. Analyst sentiment has drifted lower in recent weeks. Multiple firms trimmed targets in early May, with HC Wainwright cutting from $95 to $64 and BTIG moving from $90 to $80, both maintaining Buy ratings but signalling reduced near-term conviction. TD Cowen bucked the trend, raising its target to $68. The mean target of $67.20 implies roughly 44% upside from current levels — but that gap has narrowed sharply from where it stood three months ago.
The CEO kept selling. Eric Lefkofsky added another tranche on May 19 — roughly $984,000 worth at $44.07 — following the $8.5 million sold on April 28. He was joined that day by the CFO, COO, General Counsel, and Chief Accounting Officer, all selling on the same date. Lefkofsky retains 23% of the company, so these remain partial liquidations, not exits. But the breadth of the May 19 insider activity — five senior executives selling on a single day, just ahead of a second earnings event within a week — adds weight to what was already a cautious setup.
Thursday's print is therefore a test of whether the company's precision medicine platform can deliver revenue and margin trends that justify a near-100x EBITDA multiple, against a backdrop where the insiders closest to the business have chosen this moment to lighten up.
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