Short positioning in Chewy builds to 10-week high just as shares attempt to recover from 30% swoon 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 down 2.6%, the Russell 2000 index was down 1.2%, the Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) was down 2.8%, and the Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD) was down 2.0% in the period range.
SHORT INTEREST GAINERS
- Ortex-reported short interest in Chewy (CHWY) is building as the stock appears to have found support above $32 per share. Shorts as a percentage of free float rose to 25.5% from 23.1% and days to cover were up 55 basis points at 6.0. Chewy shares declined about 30% in the second half of August, though the stock is up about 6% in the month of September. In the five-day period covered, the stock was up 2.3%.
- Ortex-reported short interest in SkyWater (SKYT) briefly spiked this week from 14% to as high as 62% before settling on Thursday at 23%. Volumes also jumped on Tuesday along with the stock when the company disclosed it would participate in manufacturing as part of the Google agreement with U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop and produce chips that researchers can use to develop new nanotechnology and semiconductor devices, though those gains were quickly reversed. In the five-day period covered, SkyWater shares were down 25.4%.
- As highlighted last week, the estimated short position in Asana (ASAN) declined sharply when the company reported an earnings beat and a $350M capital injection from its CEO Dustin Moskovitz. As the stock came off its high however, bears in the name are returning. Ortex-reported shorts as a percentage of free float bottomed at 15.8% last Friday and have since risen to 20.6% - the highest level since early June. Asana days to cover were also up 50 basis points to 2.6. In the five-day period covered, Asana shares were up 7.5%.
- Estimated short interest in Aricimoto (FUV) rose from 22.2% to a one-month high of 24.8% this week while days to cover on the name jumped by a full percentage point to 7.5 – the highest level since the end of June. The stock has underperformed relative to the EV group, though Aricimoto shares were up about 1% in the five-day period covered.
SHORT INTEREST DECLINERS
- Estimated short interest in Zymeworks (ZYME) was down sharply this week at 17.5% vs. 26.4% prior. Shorts appear to be leaving the name after a significant decline in its stock price last Monday disclosing the company’s preliminary results its Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating zanidatamab zovodotin - ZW49 - for the treatment of HER2-positive tumors. An analyst with Citi had subsequently suggested that Zymeworks did not answered the question as to why ZW49 is differentiated from the field. The stock had fallen 30% in the first two days since the disclosure on September 7th, though shares were up 6.5% in the five-day period covered through Thursday.
- Ortex-reported shorts in Weber (WEBR) saw a steep decline this week, falling from last week’s high of 58% to as low as 44% - a three-month low - on Wednesday before settling at 46% on Thursday. Days to cover on the name was little changed around 3.2. Shares of Weber briefly spiked by over 20% in mid-August as option volume on the name hit a record high, though the stock’s gains were quickly reversed as weak fundamentals reclaimed the spotlight. Downward momentum has continued through the first half of September, with Weber shares falling 8.8% thus far this month, though the stock is up 1.4% in the five-day period covered.
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CHWY SKYT ASAN FUV ZYME WEBR Keywords: Short selling, short interest, days to cover, securities, lending, utilization, sentiment analysis, AMC, GameStop, Chewy, SkyWater, Asana, Arcimoto, Zymeworks, Weber