The $847 billion of U.S. equity shorts that we follow were overall profitable this week making $12.96 billion in net-of-financing mark-to-market profits, for a weekly return of +1.64%. Tesla shorts were the most profitable in dollar terms, up $348 million for the week, as production results disappointed the street. SNAP Inc (SNAP) is seeing a pullback from its first half of the year rally, shorts have been building their positions since July and this week’s profits just pushed year-to-date losses just below the -$1 billion mark.
The most profitable U.S. traded stocks in net-of-financing mark-to-market P\L (minimum short interest $50 mm):
On a percentage basis, the more crowded shorts did not do as well, with only one stock with weekly average short interest over $500 million in the top twenty. Three of the four largest domestic brokerages made the list after Charles Schwab announced they would be dropping commission rates to $ zero.
The most profitable U.S. traded stocks in net-of-financing mark-to-market P\L % (minimum short interest $50 mm):
Suntrust upgraded Okta Inc (OKTA) and raised its price target to $134/share and the resulting rally cost short sellers $137 million in net-of-financing mark-to-market losses. Netflix Inc’s (NFLX US) recent rebound after three months of weakness cut into short seller’s profits, if the rebound has legs, we should see some of the 21.83 million shares of NFLX covering their positions in order to realize some of their $406 million of year-to-date profits. After a brief respite, Roku Inc (ROKU) shorts continued to bleed P\L this week and are now down -$742 million for the year
The least profitable U.S. traded stocks in net-of-financing mark-to-market P\L (minimum short interest $50 mm):
On a percentage basis, we again see that the least crowded shorts did not do as well as the more crowded shorts with only one shorted stock with over $1 billion in short interest landed in the top twenty. We see some of the usual suspects with Endo Intl (ENDP US), Mallinckrodt PLC (MNK US), Slack Technologies (WORK US) and Dillards Inc (DDS US) being some of the worst short performers for the week.
The most profitable U.S. traded stocks in net-of-financing mark-to-market P\L % (minimum short interest $50 mm):
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Managing Director Predictive Analytics, S3 Partners, LLC
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