All else is not equal. When the volume dies down, they sell small board lots into the bid, trigger stop losses, and cover with people panicking who sell into the shorts' bids. They use the perception of milestone delays to help the process along.
In this way they the shorts just sit there waiting, without having to run up the SP.
Another technique is to high close the SP at the end of the day, putting it in the green. Then open it lower the next day and keep it in the red, prompting discouraged retailers to sell into the bids.
These games have been going on for a while. None of them have any real impact on the business or the tech development.
