Bearish sentiment on Stitch Fix on the rise after positive earnings surprise; IronNet shorts recede as Reddit spotlight fades 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.
As a basis of comparison, the S&P 500 index was down 3.2%, the Russell 2000 index was down 2.4%, the Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) was down 4.3% ex-dividend, and the Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD) was down 1.5% ex-dividend in the period range.
ESTIMATED SHORT INTEREST GAINERS
- Aerovate Therapeutics (AVTE) short interest gains accelerated last week’s advance, spiking from 185% to 321%, the highest level on record, with days to cover also rising 31% to 7.1. Shares were up 29.8% in the five-day period covered.
- Big Five Sporting Goods (BGFV) short interest rose six percentage points and hit a three-week high at 35.9%, while days to cover was little changed at 3.9. Shares were down 12.2% in the five-day period covered.
- Bolt Biotherapeutics (BOLT) short interest was up every day of the week, rising nearly 14 percentage points to 50.3% - the highest on record - with days-to-cover also increasing 35% to 10.3. Shares were down 1.7% in the five-day period covered.
- Following last week’s decline to two-month lows, Dillard's (DDS) short interest was back among the risers, gaining 19 percentage points to 38.1%, a four-week high. Days to cover in the name was up 34% to 3.6. Shares of Dillard's were down 17.9% in the five-day period covered.
- Geo Group (GEO) short interest was up four percentage points to 20.6%, a three-week high, with days to cover up 4% to 10.5. Shares were up 5.1% in the five-day period covered.
- Poshmark (POSH) short interest extended last week’s advance, rising as high as 106.7% - the highest level since early July – before settling at 98.9%. For the week, short interest was up 18 percentage points and days to cover was up 13% at 1.5. Shares of Poshmark were down 2.6% in the five-day period covered.
- Stitch Fix (SFIX) short interest jumped to a four-month high of 23.3%, rising eight percentage points, while days to cover was up 27% at 2.4. After last week’s post-earnings spike however, volumes and volatility in the name calmed, with shares ending the five-day period covered down by less than 1%.
ESTIMATED SHORT INTEREST DECLINERS
- After spending two weeks as a high-profile name on WallStreetBets Reddit thread, IronNet (IRNT) saw its short interest shrink 17 percentage points to 8.3%. For the five-day period covered, shares were also down about 28%, normalizing closer to levels seen before its September spike.
- PowerSchool Holdings (PWSC) short interest was down 80 percentage points at 104%, cutting the spike of last week in half. Shares of PowerSchool were down 8.9% in the five-day period covered.
- Macy (M) and New York Times (NYT) short interest fell back below 10%, sliding ten and 5 percentage points respectively to 8.5% and 9.9%. Macy’s short position is matching its lowest levels of 2021, while that of New York Times is at a three- week low. Shares of M are down 2.5% and those of NYT are down 3.7% in the five-day period covered.
- Welbilt (WBT) short interest fell 37 percentage points to 41% as the company completed its merger with Ali Group. Shares were down 1.2% in the five-day period covered.
Symbols:
AVTE BGFV BOLT DDS - $175.58 /
+3.175 (+1.84%)
GEO POSH SFIX IRNT PWSC M NYT WBT Keywords: Short selling, short interest, days to cover, securities, lending, utilization, GameStop, AMC, Stitch Fix, New York Times, Macy's, IronNet, sentiment analysis