Short Report: Bears reload on Mobileye after sharp gains in stock price

Bears rebuild short interest on Mobileye Global to record high after the stock’s 36% rise over the past month

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 down 1.0%, the Russell 2000 index was down 1.7%, the Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) was down 1.5%, and the Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN) was down 1.7% in the five-day trading session range.

SHORT INTEREST GAINERS

• Ortex-reported short interest on Mobileye Global (MBLY) had fallen from 23.9% to 21.2% in the week following the company’s Q1 results and FY23 guidance cut on April 27th when the management cited headwinds around reduced EV demand in China, as the stock price had also declined nearly 20%. Mobileye shares are up 31% from those lows however over the past three weeks, with the five-day period covered through Thursday seeing a 9% rise. Bears are refreshing their bets as well however, as estimated short interest as percentage of free float increased from 22.5% to 26.0% – a record high.
• Estimated short interest in Beyond Meat (BYND) has held in a steady range of 32% to 35% for about two months through mid-May despite the continued weakness in the stock, though this week, the short position jumped markedly from 36.0% to 44.5% – a 10-month high. Days to cover on Beyond Meat spiked to a record high of 13.5 from 10.9. The stock responded positively to the company’s smaller than expected Q4 earnings loss in late February with a 15% jump, though shares then lost all of those gains over the next 10 weeks. The decline was exacerbated by another loss reported for Q1 two weeks ago. Beyond Meat was down 4.9% in the five-day period covered and has now fallen 55% from its late February high.
• Ortex-reported short interest in Enliven Therapeutics (ELVN), a newcomer to our screen this week, has been far more volatile than the share price. Short position began to increase notably in late April, rising from 11% all the way to 53% within three weeks before plunging back to 26.5% early last week. Bears have again increased their exposure this Wednesday, boosting shorts interest as a percentage of free float from 26.4% to 36.3% by Thursday. Meanwhile shares traded down just 3.0% in the five-day period covered through Thursday.
• Estimated short interest in Plug Power (PLUG) has been on the rise this week after some of the short positions were squared following the company’s disappointing Q1 results on May 9th. Short position as a percentage of free float had risen to 20.9% ahead of earnings, slid to 19.5% in the aftermath, and has now grown to 21.8% as of Thursday and marks the highest level in about two years. The stock was up 6.5% in the five-day period covered this week but remains down 56% from its early February highs.

SHORT INTEREST DECLINERS

• Ortex-reported short interest in Chewy (CHWY) continued to slip this week, falling from 21.4% all the way down to 12.0%. We profiled the position decline in the name in our last week’s report stating that shorts as a percentage of free float have now fallen to a nine-month low, and this week’s slide takes the bearish activity all the way down to mid-2019 lows. The stock has continued to fall as well, slipping 10.7% in the five-day period covered and has now fallen 43% from early February highs. Chewy reports its Q1 results on Wednesday, May 31.
• Estimated short interest in EVgo (EVGO) was down sharply this week, tracking the steep declines in the stock price after the company announced a $125M common stock offering last Thursday. Shorts as a percentage of free float was down from 30.3% to 19.5%, roughly a nine-month low. The stock was also down 7.2% in the five-day period covered and has now lost 55% of its value from this year’s highs just two months ago.

Keywords: Short selling, short interest, days to cover, securities, lending, utilization, sentiment analysis, Mobileye Global, Beyond Meat, Enliven Therapeutics, Plug Power, EVgo, Chewy