GitLab shorts reach new record high despite diminishing analyst caution; Poshmark bears exit following 40% freefall 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 report will screen for some of biggest changes in short interest as a percentage of free float and days-to-cover ratios while also considering 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 tracks the trading period that covers prior Friday through Thursday of this week. As a basis of comparison for stocks discussed below, the S&P 500 index was up 1.0%, the Russell 2000 index was up 3..1%, the Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) was up 4.2%, and the Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD) was up 3.1% in the period range.
SHORT INTEREST GAINERS
- Shares of Altice USA (ATUS) were up for the first time in four weeks and up 11% in the five-day period covered by this report as investors shrugged a relatively underwhelming performance in cable and telecom names by focusing on some of the more heavily sold names in the sector. Short sellers are less convinced of a sustained bottom in the stock however, with estimated short interest in Altice rising 14 percentage points – the biggest change in our universe this week – to a two-month high of 34% and also pushing the days-to-cover ratio by 43% to 1.4.
- GitLab (GTLB) returns to our coverage this week as short-selling interest in the stock resumed its upward climb, even as the sell-side is turning less cautious on the name. The estimated short position on GitLab rose 17 percentage points to 68% and days-to-cover increased 23% to 3.4 – record high in both - while the stock rose 2% in the five-day-period covered. Friday’s gains of 17% came in the wake of a valuation-driven upgrade from RBC Capital – the third analyst upgrade this year.
- Estimated short interest in Fisker (FSR) hit a six-month low early last week and registered its second consecutive week of gains, rising from 26% to 32% - a two-month high – while days-to-cover on the stock increased 20% to 5.3. Shares of Fisker were up 8.8% in the five-day period covered, with another two percentage points of gains coming on Friday following the company’s announcement of a launching an all-electric SUV to the European market at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
- Small-cap biotech Precigen (PGEN) hit our screen of more significant bearish interest changes this week, with estimated short position as a percentage of free float increasing for the second consecutive week to 22% from 17% on rising volume. This marks the highest level in short interest on the stock in about four months and tracks the ongoing challenges for the company that has now lost about 80% of its value from the early 2021 highs. In the five-day period covered, Precigen shares were down another 10%.
SHORT INTEREST DECLINERS
- Poshmark's (POSH) short interest retreat highlighted in last week’s edition of this report has been sustained this week as well, accelerating its decline from 67% all the way to 8% as of Thursday. Short-seller interest in the name had skyrocketed going back to September of last year when it spiked from 6% to 100% in the span of two weeks, but with the stock down 40% in those five months, bearish focus is justifiably subsiding. Poshmark shares are up for the second consecutive week as well, rising 3.7% in the five-day period covered by this report and another 7% on Friday.
- The rapid increase in estimated short interest observed in shares of Camping World (CWH) appears to be short-lived, with bearish position as a percentage of free float falling from a ten-month high of 39% to 32% and days-to-cover down 20% to 4.4 this week. From early January trough to last week’s peak in short interest levels, the stock was down 15%, before rising 2.8% in the five-day period covered here.
Symbols:
ATUS GTLB - $72.47 /
+11.02 (+17.93%)
FSR PGEN POSH CWH Keywords: Short selling, short interest, days to cover, securities, lending, utilization, sentiment analysis, AMC, GameStop, Altice, GitLab, Fisker, Precigen, Poshmark, Camping World