Enlight Renewable Energy heads into the final days of May with a sharp and telling contradiction: the stock is up 19% on the week after signing a landmark solar power deal with Google, yet short interest has quietly ballooned to its highest level in months — a divergence that makes this one of the more charged setups in Israeli renewables right now.
The catalyst driving the rally is concrete. On May 29, Enlight signed a 200 MW solar power purchase agreement with Google in Oklahoma — a commercial milestone that confirms the company's capacity to land hyperscaler clients at scale. UBS moved the same day, maintaining its Buy rating and raising its price target to $123. The stock closed Friday at ILS 303.8, up 3.2% on the day and 14% higher than a month ago. A strong Q1 earnings beat on May 13 — with revenue up 12% year-over-year and full-year guidance raised — provided the earlier scaffolding for the move.
Short sellers are not reading the same memo. Short interest % of free float has climbed from just 0.53% in mid-April to 6.66% as of May 28 — a more than tenfold increase in six weeks. Most of that build accelerated sharply this week, with SI jumping from 2.6% to 6.7% in just three sessions. The ORTEX short score rose from 32.9 on May 25 to 43.3 by May 28 — still a mid-range reading, but the week-over-week acceleration is notable. Cost to borrow has drifted up too, running near 5% versus a month-ago level that was broadly similar, suggesting the borrow market remains accessible rather than squeezed. Availability is extremely loose at 1,554% — there are roughly 15 shares available to borrow for every one currently borrowed — meaning fresh short sellers have had no difficulty establishing positions into the rally.
The Street is broadly constructive but the analyst data carries a caveat: most available targets were last updated months ago, and the UBS $123 target (denominated in USD) reflects an ADR-level view rather than the ILS-denominated TASE listing at ILS 303.8. Investors holding via different venues should reconcile the currency and listing differences before anchoring to that figure. The ORTEX factor scorecard shows a mid-range short score rank of 25 and a sector rank of 50 — neither extreme. What stands out is the analyst recommendation differential score of 52, suggesting modest positive tilt in consensus direction without conviction.
Institutional ownership provides additional texture. Clal Financial Management recently added nearly 1.8 million shares to reach 8.4% of the company. Migdal SAL added 2 million shares to hold 8%. Altshuler Shaham made the most aggressive recent move, adding 4.1 million shares to accumulate a 3.4% stake. These are domestic Israeli institutions building positions into the rally — a notably different signal from what the short interest trend implies. On the other side, Legal & General sold 815,059 shares this week, and insiders — including SVP Meron Carr and General Manager Ilan Goren — have been consistent sellers over the past two days, with Goren alone offloading over 26,000 shares at roughly $103.76 per share. The 90-day net insider position is positive at roughly 241,770 shares net bought, but recent directional traffic is clearly selling into strength.
Peers trading on TASE tell a broadly similar story of sector momentum. ENRG gained 37% on the week and DORL added 30%, while ECNR rose 22%. ENLT's 19% gain is a strong week in absolute terms, but it is lagging the most aggressive movers in its own sector — a dynamic worth tracking given the shared macro tailwinds of Israel's renewable buildout and international hyperscaler demand.
The next earnings event is scheduled for August 7. Between now and then, the tension to watch is whether the short interest rebuild — now at a level that would have seemed impossible six weeks ago — reflects genuine fundamental scepticism about ENLT's valuation at these levels, or simply tactical positioning against a rapid rally that has drawn fresh momentum buyers.
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