Short Report: Bears pare exposure to Beyond Meat, add to Krispy Kreme

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 1.6%, the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.7%, the Russell 2000 index was up 0.6%, the Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) was flat, and the Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN) was up 1.4% in the five-day trading session range through October 23.

SHORT INTEREST GAINERS

• A resurfacing meme-stock frenzy has swept up shares of Krispy Kreme (DNUT), though the bears are still willing to fade the spike with little fear of a more powerful and durable short squeeze. This week, shorts as a percentage of free float on the name rose another two points to 32.2% – a two-and-a-half month high – while days-to-cover rose from 3.4 to 3.6 despite the surge in trading volume. The stock traded up as much as 59% from Tuesday’s low to Wednesday’s high before finishing the week up a still sizable 23%, though year-to-date, Krispy Kreme is still down sharply with a 60% decline.
• Ortex-reported short interest on Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ) tracked in a range of 35%-40% since the first week of September, before spiking higher this week, rising from 38.9% to a record high of 48.4%. Days to cover, meanwhile, slipped from 8.6 to 8.1 with trading volumes rising sharply over the past two weeks. The stock price had nearly doubled in the first nine months of 2025, though investors appear to be in profit-taking mode since the company announced that VIZZ 1.44%, the first and only FDA-approved aceclidine-based eye drop for the treatment of presbyopia in adults, is now available late last month. The stock is now down 37% from all-time highs since the start of October, attracting speculative bearish positions. This week, shares of Lenz Therapeutics were off by 22% in the five-day period through Thursday.
• As profiled last week, Ortex-reported short interest on Nano Nuclear Energy (NNE) saw an especially pronounced increase in bearish positioning in recent days, and the fade of the nuclear energy investment theme continued this week. Shorts as a percentage of free float leapt higher again, rising from 34.3% to 40.2% days-to-cover on the name nudged to 4.3 from 4.2 amid sustained high trading activity. Meanwhile, the stock continues to slip from mid-October highs, sliding another 12% while emboldening more bearish exposure. Nano Nuclear is now down 27% from October 15 peak, though shares are still up 78% year-to-date.

SHORT INTEREST DECLINERS

• Beyond Meat (BYND) – one of the most-heavily shorted stocks in our screen – has also seen some extreme volatility this week, with traders latching on to the headline of the company expanding distribution at Walmart (WMT) and targeting the name as a short squeeze candidate. Bearish positioning as a percentage of free float plummeted from 82% to 17% within days as the stock price spiked from last week’s close below $1 levels to as high as $7.59 on Wednesday before retreating below $3. In the five-day period through Thursday, Beyond Meat was still up over 400%, though even after this week’s jump, shares are still down 42% year-to-date.