Short Report: Bears cut down exposure to crypto names as bitcoin price spikes

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 0.2%, the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3%, the Russell 2000 index was up 2.0%, the Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) was up 2.5%, and the Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN) was up 1.7% in the five-day trading session range through Thursday, February 29.

SHORT INTEREST GAINERS

• After slipping to a three-month low of 20.7% in the first week of February, Ortex-reported short interest in Birkenstock (BIRK) was up for the third consecutive week, rising from 26.4% to 29.0% – within four percentage points of an all-time high. The company also reported its Q1 results before the market open on Thursday, and while its revenue was up 26%, a modest contraction in its gross margins was not well received. The stock traded down by as much as 10% intraday after earnings before settling down by 2.4%. For the week through Thursday, Birkenstock shares fell 2.5%, though the stock was down another 4.4% on Friday.
• Estimated short interest on WW International (WW) hit a three-month low of 18.2% three weeks ago with shares on a rebound from the lows over the first two weeks of February, though the short positioning has now steadily risen for three consecutive weeks, increasing another two and a half percentage points in the five-day period covered this week to 22.2%. The stock, meanwhile, briefly fell to all-time lows on Thursday on the announcement that Director Oprah Winfrey will be resigning from the board following the news that she uses GLP-1 weight loss drugs. WW saw a 4% decline for the week through Thursday, though shares bounced over 8% on Friday, erasing those losses to close the week.
• Estimated short interest in Theravance Biopharma (TBPH) slipped to a six month low last week around 35%, though this week, shorts as a percentage of free float jumped to about 43% – the highest level since mid-December. Bearish appetite in the name tracked a post-earnings rally this past Tuesday, when the stock advanced 5% the day after Theravance Q4 results. In the five-day period covered through Thursday, shares were also up 9.1%.
• Ortex-reported short interest in Luminar (LAZR) is back at the levels seen in the final week of January to first week of February, rising from 26.6% to 30.5% in the five-day period through Thursday, just as the stock advanced about 4%. Shares are shrugging off the company’s wider than expected Q4 earnings losses, with two sell-side firms also cutting their price targets for the auto sensor manufacturer. Both research reports pointed to the delay in revenues for Luminar related to the start of production of the Volvo EX90 until the second half of 2024.
• Ortex-reported short interest in ChargePoint (CHPT) had been in retreat over the past two weeks from an all-time high print of 27.2% put in on February 8th, slipping as low as 21.4%, though this week saw bearish activity pick up again. Short positioning was up to 24.7% as the company prepares to report its Q4 results amid an overwhelmingly bearish sentiment permeating across the plug-in EV sector. In the five-day period, ChargePoint is up about 8%, though the stock is still down 34% from mid-December highs.

SHORT INTEREST DECLINERS

• Estimated short interest among some of the more heavily sold cryptocurrency-exposed names on our radar is down sharply this week, with bitcoin price gains accelerating through the month of February toward its all-time highs. Short positioning in TeraWulf (WULF) was down from 29.7% to a two-month low of 24.8%, and while the stock was down 12% in the five-day period covered, shares are up nearly 50% from mid-January lows. Likewise with Riot Blockchain (RIOT), the short exposure has been reduced from 18.3% all the way down to 12.7% as a percentage of free float, a seven-month low. Riot Blockchain stock was also down 10.2% in the five-day period through Thursday but up 50% from the low point on January 19.