POET Technologies enters the back half of May caught between two opposing forces: short sellers continuing to cover, and insiders who quietly sold into the recent price spike.
The short-side unwind remains the dominant technical story, and it has continued since the last note. Short interest has dropped another 29% over the week to 14.3 million shares — now 10.9% of the free float, down from the 20.8 million share peak hit on May 15. That covers ground quickly, but the position remains substantial. At nearly 11% of float, this is still a heavily shorted name; bears have trimmed an outsized bet, not abandoned one. The short score has followed the same path, easing from 66.9 on May 18 to 60.5 — still elevated, but clearly coming off the boil.
The borrow market has loosened in parallel. Availability has climbed to roughly 50% — a sharp reversal from the 13–14% range that persisted through mid-May, when the lending pool was close to empty. Cost to borrow has fallen to 2.4%, down from above 8% in late April. That is a material change in the friction facing new short positions. A month ago, opening a fresh short cost five times as much as it does today, and available supply was a fraction of current levels. The relaxation in borrow conditions removes the mechanical squeeze pressure that had been building, even as underlying short interest remains high. Options positioning, meanwhile, has tilted back toward calls. The put/call ratio is 0.29, almost exactly in line with its 20-day average of 0.28 — a sharp contrast to the 0.43 annual peak registered on May 15. Protective demand has dissipated.
What cuts against the partial relief in the short data is the insider selling. POET's controller, Kevin Barnes, sold over 135,000 shares on May 20 across three transactions totalling roughly $1.75 million — executed at prices between $14.22 and $14.69, well above the current $13.35 level. The 90-day net insider position shows net selling of approximately $2.15 million. These transactions were filed as the stock was near its recent highs, and the timing matters: insiders were distributing into the same window where shorts were under maximum pressure and the stock was recovering sharply. No buying appears anywhere in the recent record.
The stock itself is down 8.5% on the day and off 11.6% over the past month, despite a 2.1% gain on the week. Close semiconductor peers had a better week: SMTC added 24%, WOLF climbed 24%, and HIMX gained 18% — all meaningfully outpacing POET's weekly performance. That divergence suggests POET's week-on-week gain was driven more by short covering than by fresh buying.
The analyst data is stale — the most recent target on file dates to December 2024, with price targets from Northland and Craig-Hallum in the $5.50–$7.00 range. The stock is trading well above those levels at $13.35, which reflects either a material re-rating since late 2024 or the absence of updated coverage. No recent analyst action is available to frame the current price.
The next earnings event is logged for August 12. Between now and then, the key dynamic to watch is whether the short covering continues to drive the float lower — or whether the loosening borrow market, falling cost-to-borrow, and insider distribution combine to invite fresh short positioning back into the name.
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