CPRI has just reported fiscal Q4 results, and the market's reaction so far is a muted 8% weekly bounce — not a rout, not a reversal, just a stock searching for a new equilibrium after years of brand disappointment.
Short sellers moved first. Short interest fell another 5% on the week to 8.9% of the free float, extending a steady unwind that has now erased roughly 13% of the short position over the past month. At around 10.6 million shares short, the position is meaningfully smaller than it was in mid-April when it topped 12.2 million shares. That is consistent with covering rather than conviction — shorts trimming into the print rather than pressing a thesis. The lending market offers no friction either way: availability is extraordinarily loose at 1,699% of short interest, meaning roughly 76 million shares are available to borrow against 10.6 million currently lent out. Cost to borrow is a negligible 0.40%, down 13% on the week. Nothing in the borrow market suggests a squeeze is building. Options confirm the calm: the put/call ratio is 0.15, just below its 20-day average of 0.155 and near the 52-week low of 0.14. There is essentially no hedging activity in the options market — the contrast with the 52-week high of 0.89 is stark.
The Street's picture is more complicated. Bulls point to the Versace divestiture cleaning up the balance sheet, strength in accessories, and the Bon Bon and Cinch lines as evidence that can rebuild around Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo. Bears see tariff headwinds exceeding estimates, ongoing brand sales declines, and rising operating expenses eating into already-thin margins. Recent analyst moves reflect that divide. JP Morgan raised its target modestly to $31 in mid-April while keeping an Overweight rating — the most constructive recent action from a major firm. Barclays, however, cut its target from $32 to $24 in early April, also maintaining Overweight but signalling reduced near-term confidence. Earlier moves from Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo also trimmed targets into the low-to-mid $20s. The mean price target is $26.59, representing roughly 44% upside from the current $18.50. That gap is large, but it reflects how far the stock has fallen rather than a consensus view that a re-rating is imminent. The ORTEX short score has drifted down to 48.3 from just above 50 a week ago — a modest reduction in bearish positioning signal.
The CEO's presence on the register remains the most pointed ownership signal. John Idol bought 55,000 shares in March at $17.98, investing just under $1 million at a price fractionally below today's close. That purchase now accounts for roughly 2.1% of shares outstanding as a personal holding. Among institutional holders, BlackRock recently added to its position to hold 12% of shares, and Greenlight Capital — David Einhorn's fund — holds 4.1%, with a 162,000-share addition in the most recent reporting period. Several other managers including Greenvale and Cartenna also added shares in Q1. That cluster of active-manager accumulation at depressed prices is worth noting, even if the direction of travel for the business remains uncertain.
The February earnings print is the only recent comparable with reaction data: the stock fell 2.7% the next day and was down 3.8% after five days. A modest negative reaction, not a collapse, following what was likely a cautious print. Peer performance this week gives some context: RL gained 17% on the week and PVH added 17.5%, both significantly outpacing CPRI's 8% move. LEVI rose nearly 10%. The apparel and luxury space broadly caught a bid — CPRI participated, but not at the same magnitude as peers with cleaner fundamental profiles.
The next print is now dated — earnings just hit — so the question becomes whether the post-results commentary on tariff exposure and Michael Kors brand trajectory changes the tone of the analyst community that has been cautiously constructive since April.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open CPRI on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
