Retail Stock With Contrarian Potential as Earnings Loom

Core Viewpoint - Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) is set to report its first-quarter earnings, with options traders currently betting bearishly ahead of the announcement [1]. Earnings History and Market Expectations - URBN has shown a varied history of post-earnings stock movements, with an average post-earnings move of 10.8% over the last eight reports, including an 8.2% increase after the February report and an 18.3% rise in November [2]. - The options market is anticipating a larger-than-usual post-earnings swing of 14.1% for this upcoming report [2]. Current Stock Performance - The stock is currently trading at $61.68, below its record high of$63.21 reached on May 16, and has increased by 12% year-to-date, recovering from April lows [3]. Analyst Ratings and Price Target - Among the 11 brokerages covering URBN, seven have "hold" or worse ratings, with a consensus 12-month price target of $59.42, indicating a 3.5% discount to the current stock price [5]. Short Selling Activity - Short interest in URBN has risen by 42% in the last two reporting periods, with 8.98 million shares sold short, representing 14.4% of the total available float [6]. - At the current trading pace, it would take nearly four days for short sellers to cover their positions [6]. Options Market Sentiment - Options traders are leaning bearish, as indicated by URBN's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 2.10, which ranks in the 97th percentile of its annual range [7]. - Additionally, the Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.41 is in the 87th percentile of readings from the past month, further reflecting bearish sentiment [7].