Uber Technologies ends the week at its most defensively positioned reading of the past year — with options traders demanding downside protection at a level never seen in the previous 12 months, even as the stock drops another 5% to close at $70.12.
The options signal is the most striking development of the week and marks an escalation from the note published here on May 20. Then, the put/call ratio had spiked to 1.20 — flagged as the 52-week high. It has since broken through that level entirely. The PCR closed at 1.243 on Tuesday, nearly three standard deviations above its 20-day average of 1.04. That is the highest protective put demand of the past year, arriving with the next earnings date still more than ten weeks away on August 4. The sheer scale of the move — nearly tripling the z-score from the prior week's already-elevated reading — suggests the hedging pressure is accelerating, not stabilising.
Short interest, by contrast, is telling a quieter story. SI has edged down to 2.79% of the free float, a marginal dip on the week and roughly 3% below where it was a month ago. Borrowing costs are cheap and falling — the cost to borrow has dropped 30% on the week to just 0.28% annualised, the lowest of the past six weeks. Availability remains exceptionally loose at roughly 2,597% of outstanding short interest, well above the 52-week trough of 2,302%. The lending market is wide open; this is not a short-driven squeeze setup. The divergence between elevated options hedging and subdued short positioning is the defining tension of the week.
The Street remains broadly constructive despite the price weakness. Following the May 6 earnings beat — the stock jumped 5.2% the day after results — a cluster of firms lifted targets: JP Morgan moved to $110, TD Cowen to $118, Truist to $112, and Wells Fargo to $102, all within 24 hours of results. On Tuesday, DA Davidson maintained its $107 Buy target. The analyst consensus is Hold with five holds on record, but the direction of recent target moves was uniformly higher post-earnings, and mean targets sit well above the current $70.12 print. The EV/EBITDA multiple has eased to 11.8x, down from around 12.5x a month ago, while the P/E has compressed to 18.8x — a 2.2-point decline over 30 days. The ORTEX stock score holds at 66, supported by strong growth (forward EPS running 75% above year-ago levels) and quality (F-score of 7). Value, at 37, remains the weakest pillar.
Institutional flows offer one notable data point. Capital Research and Management added over 10 million shares in the most recent reporting period through April 30, making it the second-largest holder at 6.7% of shares. BlackRock, the largest holder at 7.4%, added a more modest 2.1 million shares over the same window. Pershing Square trimmed a fractional 249,000 shares but remains a holder above 1.4% of the float. Insider activity is routine — the CLO and CMO both sold small tranches on May 15 alongside RSU awards, all significance-rated at the lowest level.
Close peer LYFT fell 2.3% on the day in line with Uber, but recovered 1.6% on the week — a meaningful contrast given Uber's 5.4% weekly decline. GRAB moved in the opposite direction, gaining 2.3% on Tuesday and 1.4% on the week. The divergence between Uber's options-driven defensive posture and its peers' relative stability adds weight to the idea that the hedging is Uber-specific rather than a broad sector rotation.
What to watch: whether the PCR — now at an unprecedented 12-month extreme — begins to mean-revert without a price catalyst, or whether the put demand proves prescient heading into the summer with earnings not until early August.
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