Welcome to this week’s installment of “The Short Interest Report" – The Fly's weekly recap of short interest trends among some of the most widely followed high-short-float stocks. Using the data from our partner Ortex.com, which utilizes the latest information from stock lenders to estimate short interest changes for thousands of publicly traded companies, this version will screen for some of biggest changes in short interest as a percentage of free float and days-to-cover ratios. This report will also continue to layer the short interest data on some of the more volatile and heavier-traded names of the week. Based on the availability of data from Ortex, the report will continue to track the trading period that covers prior Friday through Thursday of this week. Please note that the Short Interest Report will also be on break next week and resume on September 10th.
As a basis of comparison, the S&P 500 index was up 1.5%, the Russell 2000 index was up 3.8%, the Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) was up 2.1%, and the Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD) was up 1.2% in the period range.
SUPPORT.COM JOINS MEME STOCK CRAZE AS SHORT INTEREST SPIKES
Support.com (SPRT) has been knocking on the doors of the “meme stock” party for the better part of the week, culminating in a barn-burner of an arrival today. The stock has rallied 125% in the 5-day trading period covered through Thursday, and has now added another 170% to $53 per share at the time of writing on Friday. The estimated short interest position in the name has also increased considerably, rising seven percentage points to 75.8% through yesterday, which marks the highest level in its history.
ALTICE SHORT POSITIONING RISES TO FOUR-MONTH HIGH
We profiled Altice USA (ATUS) last week as a notable short-interest gainer, and the company has once again come up on our Ortex-driven screen. The estimated net-short position on Altice has increased by 21 percentage points to 37.7% – the highest level since early April – while its days-to-cover ratio was up 56% to 2.2. Shares of Altice had hit a nine-month low below $27 per share last week but bounced this week with a 3.4% gain in the 5-day trading period covered.
SHORT SELLERS RETURN TO DANAOS AS STOCK RALLIES TO MULTI-YEAR HIGH
Shares of Danaos (DAC) had broken out to their best levels since late 2015 this week and short-selling has increased meaningfully as bears weighed in on the debate over the validity of a rebound in the containership market. The estimated short interest as a percentage of free float for Danaos shares spiked from 3% all the way to 47 – the highest level since late April – while days-to-cover ratio on the stock quadrupled to 2.9. Shares of Danaos were up 11.7% in the 5-day trading period covered.
NIKOLA SHORT INTEREST REACHES RECORD HIGH
Shares of Nikola (NKLA) were up a relatively modest 11% over the 5-day trading period covered in the context of losses suffered by the stock during the July-August period, but the shift in short positioning was considerably more pronounced. The estimated short interest as a percentage of free float for Nikola shares jumped 15 percentage points to 43.5% in the 5-day period through Thursday – the highest level on record – with days to cover ratio also rising about 10% to 7.8.
FISKER, IROBOT, POSHMARK NOTABLE SHORT POSITION DECLINERS
Among the largest double-digit short-interest decliners in our Ortex-driven screen, Fisker (FSR), iRobot (IRBT), and Poshmark (POSH) were the most notable this week. Estimated short interest Fisker had hit a four-month high last week but dropped about 15 percentage points to 25.7% even though the stock has traded in a narrow range over the past two weeks. Short interest positions in iRobot and Poshmark were each down 10 percentage points to 20% and 15% respectively. The short position in the former has continued to retreat from a seven-month high seen in early August while that of the latter has been trending down for the past two weeks and reached the lowest level since mid-March. Shares of Fisker, iRobot, and Poshmark were up 4.2%, up 1.2%, and up 10.5% respectively in the 5-day trading period covered.
Support.com
+15.58 (+79.29%)
Altice USA
+0.355 (+1.27%)
Danaos
+1.58 (+1.89%)
Nikola
-0.02 (-0.20%)
Fisker
+0.33 (+2.40%)
iRobot
+1.06 (+1.29%)
Poshmark
+0.1 (+0.35%)