Options traders are betting against the bearish grain in Li Auto. The put-call ratio hit 0.51 on June 10 — a 52-week low, and 2.2 standard deviations below its 20-day mean of 0.61. That is the most bullish options positioning of the past year, arriving as the stock sits 24% below its one-month high.
The divergence is stark. On one side, options traders are loading calls at the highest relative rate in a year. On the other, the short-selling infrastructure remains severely constrained. Availability sits at just 4.3% — fewer than five shares remain available to borrow for every hundred already lent out. The cost to borrow has more than doubled over the past month to 2.25%.
These two signals are pointing in opposite directions. That tension is what makes the setup notable.
Fresh analyst action adds a bearish overlay. HSBC lowered its price target to $15.60 from $17.20 on June 10, maintaining a Hold. Barclays cut its target to $14.00 from $18.00 just days earlier. Both still see limited upside from current levels near $13.69. JP Morgan holds an Underweight. The mean analyst target across the coverage universe stands at $126.61 — a figure heavily distorted by older, stale estimates and not a reliable guide to near-term consensus.
The PCR trend itself is informative. The ratio has fallen steadily from 0.78 in early May to today's 0.51. That is a six-week, unbroken shift toward calls. It does not align with the stock's price action — LI has dropped 9% this week alone.
The next earnings date is August 27. Between now and then, the key tension is whether the options market's implied optimism has any fundamental anchor, or whether it reflects short-covering hedges as borrow conditions stay near their tightest levels in a year.
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