POET Technologies has spent the past week unwinding the extreme short-side pressure that defined mid-May — but with the stock down 8.5% on Tuesday alone to $13.35, the unwind is not yet a clean story.
The short interest reversal is the headline this week. Bears have covered aggressively: short interest has fallen 29% over five sessions, retreating from the 20.8 million share peak on May 15 to around 14.3 million shares, or roughly 10.9% of the free float. That is a significant pullback from the 15.3% level flagged in the convergence note published a week ago, and it marks one of the fastest unwinds in the 30-day history. The direction has clearly shifted — but at nearly 11% of float, shorts have not left the building. They have trimmed, not exited.
The borrow market tells the same story of partial relief. Availability has loosened sharply from the near-exhaustion levels described in previous coverage — rising to just under 50% from the 13–14% range that persisted through mid-May, when fewer than one share remained available for every six already borrowed. Cost to borrow has also eased considerably, falling to 2.4% from a peak above 8% in late April and from the 4.5–5.3% range that prevailed earlier this month. Both moves confirm that short-side demand has cooled. The 52-week low on availability was 2.4% — the market came close to fully seizing up. Right now it is looser, but at 50% availability it remains in the tight-to-normal range rather than freely available.
Options positioning has shifted too, and the direction reinforces the calmer lending picture. The put/call ratio has eased to 0.28 — right in line with its 20-day average of 0.28 and well below the 0.43 annual peak hit on May 15. The z-score is essentially flat, meaning options traders are no longer pressing for downside protection at the elevated pace seen during peak short accumulation. The contrast with the convergence report published May 20 — when all three signals were firing simultaneously — is clear: the three-way alarm has gone quiet, replaced by a more neutral read.
The short score confirms the easing but deserves context. It has declined steadily from 67.2 on May 15 to 60.5 today, the lowest reading in the ten-day window. Yet at a short-score rank in the 6th percentile of the universe, POET still carries one of the most concentrated short-side footprints in the market. Fewer than 6% of stocks are more heavily positioned on the short side by this composite measure. The retreat is real; the score is still extreme.
The insider picture adds a cautionary note. Controller Kevin Barnes sold around 135,600 shares across three transactions on May 20 — the same session the stock was trading near $14.22–$14.69 — generating roughly $1.75 million in proceeds. That cluster of sales came at the recent high-water mark for the price, about 10% above Tuesday's close. The broader 90-day insider net is also negative at approximately $2.15 million sold. No purchases appear in the recent history.
Peers in the semiconductor space had a sharply different week. SMTC and WOLF both gained more than 23% over five sessions, while PENG and HIMX rose 20% and 18% respectively. POET's 2% weekly gain sits at the bottom of the peer group — divergence that is notable given the high correlation readings (57–62%) these names carry against POET. Sector tailwinds were clearly not the driver of this week's price action for POET specifically.
The next earnings event is scheduled for August 12. Between now and then, the key variable to track is whether short covering continues at the current pace or stabilises around the 10–11% float level — and whether the borrow market's brief loosening holds or tightens again if the price recovers toward last week's highs.
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