Short Report: Bearish positioning in ChargePoint boosted, Blink Technology pared

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, excluding holidays. As a basis of comparison for stocks discussed below, the S&P 500 index was up 1.8%, the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.7%, the Russell 2000 index was up 3.3%, the Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) was up 2.0%, and the Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN) was up 4.0% in the five-day trading session range through Thursday, March 14.

SHORT INTEREST GAINERS

• Shares of ChargePoint (CHPT) are finding some support following a 31% month-long swoon through March 15th, bouncing 12% in the five-day span covered through Thursday before Friday’s 8% decline. Bears are using the rebound as an opportunity to increase exposure however, with Ortex-reported short positioning rising two percentage points this week to 25.4% – within striking distance of a multi-month high around 27%. In contrast, the company’s EV charging peer Blink Technology (BLNK) saw its Ortex-estimated bearish positioning being reduced sharply from about 31% to 21%. Here, the stock was down 23.6% in the five-day period covered through Thursday and, like ChargePoint, lost another 8% on Friday, with at least two sell-side firms also cutting their price targets on the stock late last week to reflect recent equity dilution.
• Ortex-reported short interest in SunPower (SPWR) – profiled last week for carving out new record highs along with other solar stocks in conjunction with rising interest rates – separated from its peers with a massive spike this week. Bearish positioning as a percentage of free float jumped from 47.4% to 79.3%, with days-to-cover on the name also up to a two-month high of 9.1 from 7.9 ratio. While the stock was up 12% amid relief from higher rates, bears may be focusing on the regulatory side, with SunPower disclosing a Nasdaq listing deficiency notice this week in the wake of its 10-K filing delay announced three weeks ago in order for the company to complete its financials, which also followed the announced resignation of its CEO two days earlier.
• Estimated short interest on Vital Energy (VTLE) had tracked in a 25%-30% range over the past two months as the stock gained some 20%, though bears are calling for some retrenchment in April – as shares have done over the last two years. Shorts as a percentage of free float in Vital Energy jumped from 30.2% to record high 35.4%, with days to cover on the name also rising sharply from 7.0 to 11.0. In the five-day period covered through Thursday, Vital Energy shares were up less than 1%.
• Ortex-reported short interest in Savers Value Village (SVV) presciently peaked around 43% just over two weeks ago ahead of the company’s underwhelming Q4 results and below-consensus initial FY24 revenue guidance that subsequently produced a near-20% swoon over the following two weeks. Bears went on to reduce their positioning to as low as 33% just as the stock sold off, though this week saw some rebuild of that positioning, with shorts as a percentage of free float rising back to about 39%. Savers Village shares were down another 2.2% in the five-day period covered, though the decline is decelerating and trading volume is slowing.

SHORT INTEREST DECLINERS

• Ortex-reported short interest in NuScale Power (SMR) has pulled back this week, slipping from 32.5% to a two-month low of 28.5%. Days-to-cover on the name has also come off its extreme levels, declining from 10.9 to 5.4 amid a sharp increase in trading volume. NuScale Power has had a volatile month, with shares more than tripling through March 18th and then pulling back some 62% from its intraday Monday highs through Friday, driving the short-covering. Tuesday’s downgrade by Wells Fargo encapsulated NuScale’s dramatic rise and the steep fall, stating that while stock’s 207% rally year-to-date was likely connected to positive developments for nuclear owners Constellation Energy (CEG) and Talen Energy (TLNE), that was misguided as the company has not secured customers for its VOYGR small modular reactor power plant product and was also hamstrung by having cash on hand that only providing one year of runway.