Hertz has their earnings this Thursday pre-market, on August 6th.
There is over 100% institutional ownership as per Nasdaq.
[https:\/\/www.nasdaq.com\/market-activity\/stocks\/htz\/institutional-holdings](https://preview.redd.it/wttqpur3a3hh1.png?width=817&format=png&auto=webp&s=df805ae2ebc9c2009b179f7e2d0655fc75ce636e)
Hertz is expected to have a slight loss this Quarter @ -.23 cents EPS.
https://preview.redd.it/7ewdfcu8a3hh1.png?width=746&format=png&auto=webp&s=ca0a7a546fbd3db0fa12a7b455d17d32032eedfb
The last time they had a surprise earnings, the stock shot up almost 40% overnight.
https://preview.redd.it/azebgg2fa3hh1.png?width=744&format=png&auto=webp&s=480aa57c59a2b291e03cd0d68e0376874f0677c5
The company also released some pre-earnings hype on 06-30-26 anticipating good earnings due to the World Cup activity.
[https://newsroom.hertz.com/articles/article-details/hertz-data-reveals-surge-in-match-driven-road-trips-as-global-soccer-fans-redefine-u-s-travel/](https://newsroom.hertz.com/articles/article-details/hertz-data-reveals-surge-in-match-driven-road-trips-as-global-soccer-fans-redefine-u-s-travel/)
Bill Ackman owns \~20% of Hertz (mostly through Total Return Swaps, which basically means another entity holds the shares and pays/collects the gains/losses from Ackman's Hedge Fund).
There are currently \~97 million shares short.
https://preview.redd.it/l5y82clva3hh1.png?width=641&format=png&auto=webp&s=565ab62eb56c8d55bfff680abc4f931e2102727a
IKBR shows 1.3 million shares available for borrow (which means you also have to add up all of the other brokerages, but this gives an idea of the total available supply).
Last week that number went to zero.
https://preview.redd.it/2b65hex0b3hh1.png?width=697&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb03e9fac99d5a07886380e5bedeb709e025bf34
Fidelity has also changed their margin requirements on HTZ last week, I am no longer able to use my shares as equity for margin loan.
The stock is at an **all time low** with the RSI being \~26 on the daily chart.
https://preview.redd.it/x4vn1dzab3hh1.png?width=1964&format=png&auto=webp&s=d5daf46cce4bf11f5c615cf3d7b1060172eb8f84
I have about \~113K shares lock and loaded for earnings this week.
https://preview.redd.it/5hgjg0hgb3hh1.png?width=863&format=png&auto=webp&s=890949e710ebd5d1bfe0e7152e9c1db79617f7aa
One thing to be wary of is the large 10 million shares short via synthetic position (which is not required to be disclosed as per FINRA).
Look at the August 21st expiration on the 9 strike.
That 100K open interest on the 9 strike is a synthetic short, meaning they sell 100K contracts on the call side and buy 100K contracts on the put side.
Synthetic shorts are also called married puts.
https://preview.redd.it/egg4vfjsb3hh1.png?width=559&format=png&auto=webp&s=1d188f365f9eed1550fa21dbca16599788774bef
https://preview.redd.it/j3yrftwtb3hh1.png?width=557&format=png&auto=webp&s=ef9c0e7bc38c2e363453bce88b3804c0bacb716b
The strikes are so far away from the current price, but this gives an indication of the moves the crooked players are making and their sentiment.
It's much harder to make money when you're swimming against the current, but a good earnings could be a catalyst to trigger a squeeze.
I'm holding my entire position through earnings.