Short Report: Short positions on Gap and C3.ai hit new record highs

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 0.3%, the Russell 2000 index was down 2.1%, the Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) was down 2.0%, and the Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN) was down 2.1% in the four-day trading session range.

SHORT INTEREST GAINERS

• Estimated short interest on The Gap (GPS) continued its gradual rise this week from last Thursday’s 21.5% level, hitting a new multi-year high of 24.9% before ending the week at 23.0%. Trading volume on the name has been subdued however, with days-to-cover rising from 2.7 to 3.8 following a brief stop at 5.0. In the four-day period covered, shares of The Gap were up another 3.5%, though the stock is down about 20% year-to-date.
• C3.ai (AI) was the featured name in last week’s edition of this report and the bearish appetite on the stock has only continued to build. Ortex-reported short interest on the shares were up another two percentage points this week, topping 38% for the first time on record. Unlike last week’s 4% correction coming in spite of a broader market rally, C3.ai shares were up nearly 9% in the four-day period covered to mark a two-week high above the $40 mark. As discussed last week, analysts have lamented the stock’s lofty valuation, with shares having more than tripled year-to-date.
• Ortex-reported short interest on Virgin Galactic (SPCE) was up for the third consecutive week and now within a point of a one-year high, rising from 25.6% to 27.2% through Thursday. The company announced the completion of its inaugural commercial spaceflight late last week with no incidents and now targets the next commercial mission involving private astronauts as soon as August, but the stock has now erased all of the gains made in mid-June when Virgin Galactic announced the launch. In the four-day period covered, shares were down 13%.
• Estimated short interest on Canada Goose (GOOS) slipped to a three-month low of 24.9% on June 9th and remained generally flat around 25% until late last week before nudging higher to 26.0% as of this Thursday. With trading volumes down notably, days to cover on the name also increased to a two-year high of 10.2 from 9.4. Canada Goose shares meanwhile saw their lowest point last month about a week before the trough in the short interest but have since held support around $15.50, gaining about 2% in the four-day period covered.

SHORT INTEREST DECLINERS

• Ortex-reported short interest on AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) hit a seven-month high of 25.6% on June 28th but has since come in below the 20% mark, ending this week down about three percentage points at 19.4%. Shorts had squared positions following the 27% decline in the stock price after the company raised $59M in equity, and shares are now hovering near its lowest levels of the year. In the four-day period covered, AST SpaceMobile shares were down about 10%.