ITM Power: Divergent Signals as Short Interest Plunges and Retail Demand Surges Amid 24% Rout

Short interest in ITM Power collapses 73% while retail buyers dominate trades; stock down 24% in 30 days yet up 97% year-to-date, with analyst upgrade supporting long-term view.

The mood around ITM Power could hardly be more contradictory. On one side, short sellers are stampeding for the exit — the number of shorted shares collapsed by 73% in late May, from roughly 34,000 to around 9,100. On the other, retail investors on a major UK trading platform are piling in, with buyers accounting for 63% of all trades on Thursday morning. The stock itself is deep in the red, down 24% over the past 30 days, yet these two camps are drawing opposite conclusions.

The exodus of bearish bets has left the "days to cover" ratio at just 0.1, meaning any remaining shorts could be closed almost instantly without moving the price. That retreat follows a rating upgrade from Morgan Stanley, which lifted its stance from "Equal Weight" to "Overweight" at the end of April. The investment bank also raised its price target, signalling greater confidence in the hydrogen specialist’s trajectory.

The price action tells a fractured story. At Friday’s close, the stock slid another 5.05% to €1.43, well below the 50-day moving average of €1.64. The secondary source quotes a slightly higher price of €1.50 after a ten percent weekly drop, reflecting the fast-moving nature of the selloff. Either way, the short-term technicals are bruised: the relative strength index stands at 38.2 (or 40.2 depending on the data point), territory that suggests a significantly cooled market without reaching oversold extremes.

Longer-term, the picture remains bright. ITM Power shares are still up nearly 97% (or more than 107% per the secondary source) since the start of the year, and roughly 75% over twelve months. The 200-day moving average sits at €1.00, meaning the stock trades about 50% above that benchmark, confirming an intact secular uptrend even as momentum has broken. The 52-week high of €2.58 was hit as recently as May 29, placing the current price almost 42% below that peak.

There is no fresh company news driving the rout. ITM Power has released no official statements in the past 48 hours; the last strategic update came in early June. The selling is purely market-driven, likely a combination of profit-taking after an extraordinary run and general sector volatility. Retail bargain hunters are trying to catch the falling knife, but they face a clear hurdle: absorbing the weight of recent gains being cashed in before stability can return around the €1.43 to €1.50 zone.

Across the hydrogen universe, other players are making moves. Ceres Power completed a £103 million equity raise on June 10, placing 18 million new shares at 570 pence each to fund solid oxide technology development. H-Power announced its first commercial hydrogen sale in the UK from cracked ammonia: 5,000 kilograms of 99.97% purity fuel-cell-grade hydrogen sold to Protium, produced from bio-ammonia in Dunsfold, alongside a 12-month storage agreement. Plug Power is pursuing profitability targets of EBITDA-positive by end-2026, operating profit by 2027, and full profitability by end-2028.

For ITM Power, the immediate test is whether current levels can form a floor. Without fresh contract announcements or financing updates, sentiment will continue to dictate the price. The buyers who have stepped in so far must prove they can absorb the selling pressure and hold the line — and turn the 30-day slide into a consolidation before the next leg higher can begin.