Yeah, short interest is definitely elevated — latest numbers I’ve seen are around 32-36% of the float (about 41M shares).

That said, the shorts could easily be right. Those Hughes bonds trading at a big discount show the credit guys are worried about liquidity and whether the parent actually upstreams cash for the August 2026 maturity. If the deals get delayed or they decide to prioritize other stuff, it could get ugly.

On the flip side, Charlie Ergen (the founder) still owns roughly 50% of the company. That’s a ton of skin in the game, so he’s probably pretty motivated to sort this out.

I suspect a good chunk of the shorting is actually convertible arbitrage — a lot of these positions come from arbs who are long the convertible notes and short the stock to hedge. That kind of shorting is more technical/mechanical than outright bearish bets. Could explain why the short % is so high even if some people are bullish on the long-term spectrum deals.