DICK'S Sporting Goods heads into its June 10 Q1 results carrying the heaviest short positioning in months — and options traders are adding to the caution in real time.
Short sellers have been building into this print. Short interest has climbed nearly 18% over the past month to almost 12% of free float, the highest level in the trailing 30-day window. That's a meaningful accumulation: from roughly 5.5 million shares short in mid-May to 6.75 million by last week. The ORTEX short score has tracked the build, edging up to 58.6 — well above where it was a month ago. Days to cover runs at seven, which means any covering pressure could take time to work through the market. Despite all this, the borrow market remains accessible. Availability is generous at around 424% — more than four shares available for every one already borrowed — and cost to borrow is just 0.50%, both signals that the shorts are in no particular hurry and face no squeeze pressure from the lending side.
Options positioning has grown more defensive as the report approaches. The put/call ratio has jumped to 1.82, roughly 1.5 standard deviations above its 20-day average of 1.45. That's a notable shift: for context, the PCR sat below 1.1 through most of early May, and it has risen steadily every week since. The stock has dropped 5.6% over the past week and is effectively flat on the month at $214.83, a backdrop that explains some of the hedging. Recent earnings history adds texture: the last two prints each produced negative 1-day and 5-day reactions, with the most recent pre-May event dropping roughly 5% on the day and 7% over the following five sessions.
The analyst community, however, is notably more constructive — and that divergence is the sharpest tension heading in. JP Morgan's upgrade to Overweight on May 28, with a $270 target, was the headline move: the same analyst had been Neutral just days earlier. Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and Truist all raised targets around the same date, clustering in the $270–$280 range. Most of that activity was tied to the Foot Locker acquisition close, which pushed combined annual revenue above $22 billion and reframed the long-term growth story. The bull case centres on Foot Locker turnaround optionality, House of Sport expansion, and EPS power the Street sees approaching $20 by FY2028. The bear case is more straightforward: integration costs, margin pressure, and a consumer discretionary stock trading at nearly 14x trailing earnings in an uncertain macro environment. Wells Fargo's $220 target — essentially at the current price — captures the cautious end of the range, and a consensus still sitting at Hold despite the upgrade wave signals the Street is not yet fully aligned.
Insider activity adds a further note of restraint. CEO Lauren Hobart sold over $4.5 million in shares on May 28 — the same day the Street was raising targets — and several other executives including the CFO and Executive Chairman sold in April. The 90-day net position across all insiders is positive in share terms, but the recent selling by senior management at prices well above current levels is worth noting. The June 10 print becomes, above all, a test of whether the Foot Locker integration is tracking to plan at the margin level — and whether the company can give enough concrete FY26 guidance to close the gap between analyst ambition and current short conviction.
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