Capricor Therapeutics heads into the week with bears back on the offensive — short interest climbing, borrow availability tightening sharply, and the ORTEX short score reaching its highest reading in the observable window.
The most notable shift since the May 31 note is that the modest easing trend has reversed. Short interest climbed to 25.1% of the free float as of June 4, up from 23.9% a week ago — a 4.7% week-on-week build that pushes the one-month gain to nearly 20%. That is a meaningful re-acceleration after the brief consolidation phase flagged previously. The ORTEX short score has moved with it, reaching 74.3 on June 4 versus 68.9 just two weeks ago — the highest in the recent series and a clear signal that the bear setup is no longer idling.
Borrow conditions tell a mixed story. Cost to borrow remains undemanding at 0.55%, up modestly on the week but still well below any level that would threaten a squeeze. The more telling data point is availability, which has tightened sharply — from roughly 350% in late May to 197% now, a 44% drop in a week. That is still in the "tight" range rather than extreme, but the direction of travel is clear: the lending pool is being drawn down at pace as new shorts build positions. With the 52-week minimum availability on record at 0.06%, there is historical precedent for this market to tighten considerably further if the bear momentum continues. Options, by contrast, remain relatively calm. The put/call ratio of 0.39 is slightly below its 20-day average of 0.41, suggesting no unusual demand for downside protection via derivatives — the bearish positioning is happening in the stock loan market, not the options pit.
The stock has lost nearly 19% over the past month, closing at $26.71 on June 5, with an additional 4.4% shed on the day and 10.8% on the week. The previous note flagged a cluster of insider sales — CFO Anthony Bergmann and General Counsel Karen Krasney each sold 25,000 shares on May 1, alongside larger director-level disposals in late March and early April totalling over $3.5 million in proceeds. That selling pressure came with the stock still trading in the low $30s. The shares are now more than 15% below those transaction prices, which removes neither the signal nor the overhang. With net insider activity running as sales over the 90-day window, the register continues to point in the same direction as short positioning.
The institutional picture adds a layer of nuance. Suvretta Capital and Tang Capital both added aggressively in Q1 — Suvretta by nearly 2.9 million shares, Tang by 1.7 million — and BlackRock added a further 570,000 shares as recently as late May. That active buying from specialist healthcare funds sits in direct contrast to the short build and the insider selling, creating an ownership structure where conviction runs in both directions. Suvretta and Tang together hold over 12% of shares, a bloc large enough to matter in any squeeze scenario, though the loose borrow conditions make that a distant prospect for now.
The next earnings event is scheduled for August 6. The most recent print — May 12 — produced a 4.9% single-day decline followed by a further 15.6% drop over five trading sessions, a pattern consistent with a stock where bad news compounds. The question heading into the summer is whether the short build now bakes in further clinical disappointment, or whether a positive data readout from the Duchenne program reactivates the institutional buyers who loaded up in Q1.
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