XTB ends the week down nearly 5% to PLN 103.64, reversing last week's recovery — and the lending market has just flashed its most notable move of the month.
The standout this week is the sharp tightening in borrow availability. After holding between 1,068% and 1,150% for most of May, availability dropped abruptly to 662% on May 28 — nearly halving in a single session. That is still a loose market by any standard, but the move is the most pronounced single-day tightening in the dataset, and it pushed the short score to 31.7, its highest reading in the trailing ten-day window. To be clear, availability at 662% means there are still roughly six and a half shares available to borrow for every one currently shorted — no squeeze pressure, no stress — but the direction of travel has changed. Borrow cost, meanwhile, has stayed sticky near the top of its recent range at 1.03%, up 42% against the level from a month ago, even as the stock has weakened. That combination — price falling, CTB holding firm, availability tightening — is a different texture to last week's picture of a tentative CTB reversal.
Short interest itself remains a minor character in this story. The ORTEX short score's rise to 31.7 from around 29.7 a week ago marks a clear step up, though it still registers in the 61st percentile of the universe — not extreme by any measure. The direction is what matters: the score was drifting lower through mid-May, and this week it reversed. Whether that reflects new short positioning being added, or simply the mechanical effect of availability tightening, the two are now moving in the same direction for the first time in several weeks.
Ownership is dominated by founder Jakub Zablocki, who holds roughly 44% of the company. His last recorded transaction was a large sell in May 2025 — nearly 9.4 million shares at PLN 78, approximately $195 million equivalent — against the current price of PLN 103.64, showing the stock has appreciated materially since that exit. The only recent insider activity is a cluster of share awards to executive board members on May 22, all at zero cost and all carrying minimal significance scores. There is no open-market buying to note over the past 90 days.
On the Street side, the analyst picture is stale — the most recent data is dated December 2025, well outside the threshold for current commentary, so no weight should be placed on the consensus or price target here. The factor score profile shows a strong dividend rank (88th percentile) and a mid-range short score rank (61st percentile), consistent with a stock that the market broadly respects but is not aggressively chasing. The next earnings event is flagged for late August, which leaves roughly thirteen weeks of data flow before the next hard catalyst. The previous four earnings reactions were mixed — the most recent produced a 5% single-day decline on May 15, though the one before it gained 3.6%.
The week ahead will test whether the availability tightening on May 28 was a one-session aberration or the start of a more sustained shift. If availability continues to compress toward the 52-week low of 537%, that would be the more consequential development to track — particularly against a backdrop of a stock already off 5% on the week.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open XTB 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.
