UiPath heads into its June 25 earnings date carrying one of the heaviest short positions in enterprise software — and short sellers added to it aggressively this week even as the stock bounced.
Short interest has climbed to 33.3% of the free float, up from roughly 29.7% just two weeks ago and 24.4% a month prior. That is a 12% rise in shares short over the past week alone — a meaningful acceleration, not a drift. The move is all the more notable because the stock gained nearly 10% on the week to $12.18, closing on Tuesday with a sharp 7% reversal. Shorts were adding into strength. Availability in the lending market has tightened to 71.8% — down from above 90% in late April, and approaching the 52-week tightest reading of 45.2% recorded earlier this year. Despite the growing demand for borrows, cost to borrow remains extraordinarily cheap at 0.68%, having barely moved across the past month in any sustained direction. The combination — large short, tightening availability, yet negligible borrowing cost — reflects a well-supplied lending pool still being drawn down steadily. The short score holds at 70.5, in the top 5% of the universe on that metric, and has been remarkably stable in that range all month.
Options traders are not sounding a loud alarm. The put/call ratio runs at 0.43, above its 20-day mean of 0.37 but only about one standard deviation away — not yet the kind of elevated defensive read that would signal panic. For context, the 52-week peak was 0.67. The options market looks watchful, not fearful: a modest uptick in hedging consistent with a stock heading into earnings, rather than a crowded put-buying moment.
The Street has spent the past week recalibrating after UiPath's most recent results. The revenue print — $481.1M, up 14% year-on-year — beat estimates, and ARR growth of 11% to $1.85 billion was solid. But the reaction among analysts was decidedly mixed. Morgan Stanley trimmed its target from $17 to $15, maintaining Equal-Weight. BMO Capital cut from $14 to $13 while holding Market Perform. DA Davidson also lowered, moving to $12. The one exception was BofA Securities, which raised its Underperform target slightly from $12 to $13 — still a bearish rating, just marginally less so. Needham held its Buy and $15 target. The consensus mean target now sits near $13.31, a thin premium to the $12.18 close. The overall tone from the Street is defensive patience: bulls see cheap-enough valuation if execution holds, bears point to DBNRR sliding to 107% and limited operating margin expansion as signs that the growth narrative is losing traction. At a PE of roughly 14.6x and EV/EBITDA near 10x, the stock is not expensive by historical software standards — but a low multiple on a decelerating grower is not inherently a catalyst.
One institutional angle worth noting: founder and CEO Daniel Dines remains the dominant shareholder with a 19.5% stake, while BlackRock added roughly 2.8 million shares in the most recently filed period. The insider picture is more routine — the CFO, General Counsel, and Chief Accounting Officer all sold modest amounts in early April, consistent with plan-based RSU disposals rather than conviction selling. Nothing in the insider register changes the broader story.
Close peers had a volatile week. RBRK and APPN both surged more than 20%, and ASAN jumped nearly 32% — moves that make PATH's 10% weekly gain look restrained by comparison. CRM — the highest-correlated peer — gained 12% on the week before falling 4% on Tuesday alongside PATH. That broad software rally, then reversal, framed the week: a sector-wide re-rating was running into earnings-specific caution once UiPath's own results landed and the Street turned more guarded.
With the next earnings date set for June 25, the question sharpening over the next three weeks is whether the short build reflects genuine conviction about execution risk — slower ARR, margin pressure, WorkFusion integration uncertainty — or whether 33% of float short on a stock trading below $13 sets up a mechanics story if the print comes in ahead of the now-reduced bar.
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