Short Report: Celcuity short interest at two-year high

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 1.3%, the Nasdaq Composite was up 2.5%, the Russell 2000 index was up 1.7%, the Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) was up 2.1%, and the Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN) was up 1.2% in the five-day trading session range through September 11.

SHORT INTEREST GAINERS

• Ortex-reported short interest in Celcuity (CELC) had not topped 20% since February of this year, but over the past three weeks, bearish interest has seen large spikes that has taken the short positioning on the name to a two-year high near 30%. In the final week of August, shorts as a percentage of free float jumped from 15% to about 22%, and this week, positioning was up from 22% to 29%. The stock has also seen momentous gains since July 28th, when this oncology biotech announced positive topline results from a Phase 3 clinical trial of gedatolisib in breast cancer, having quadrupled in price since then. The Street commentary reflected the optimism – Needham called the program potentially “practice changing” in breast cancer and said the readout significantly increases likelihood of FDA approval for gedatolisib. This week, the stock was up 5.4%, though it traded 13% off its intra-week high.
• Ortex-reported short interest in Aeva (AEVA) had receded from its late-July record high of 35.6% as the stock’s May-June 6-bagger rally had been nearly erased by the first week of August. This week however, with shares picking up steam, bears are positioning for a repeat. Shorts as a percentage of free float rose from 28.8% to 36.3% – a new record high. Meanwhile, the shares of the industrial-use motion sensor/perception system builder gained about 20% in the five day period covered and have now bounced 31% from its late-August lows.
• Ortex-reported short interest in Lovesac (LOVE) continued its 8-week-old march higher, rising from 25.3% to 28.2% this week – the highest level since the first week of April – and this week, the bears were rewarded as the company’s Q2 earnings loss and in-line revenue resulted in a 15% same-day post-results decline in the stock price on Thursday. The stock was also off by 12% in the five-day period covered through Thursday close, and year-to-date, the comfort furnishing distributor has now shed 25%.

SHORT INTEREST DECLINERS

• Ortex-reported short interest in Coreweave (CRWV) – a high-profile AI software April IPO – had reached a record-high level of 28% late last week before a precipitous decline during the past three sessions. Within the five-day period covered, shorts as a percentage of free float on the stock was down from 25.6% all the way to 15.3%, while days-to-cover on the widely traded shares fell from 0.9 to 0.3. Short-covering also echoed the high-volume bounce in the stock seen during the first three days of the week when shares gained 31%, and overall, in the five-day period covered this week, CoreWeave was up about 29%. While the stock has come off its mid-June highs, CoreWeave is still up nearly triple relative to its IPO debut.
• Ortex-reported short interest in Enphase Energy (ENPH) hit a five-year high of 24.1% in mid-August and then matched that level again earlier this week on Monday before traders reduced bearish bets for the next three days. Overall, in the five-day period covered, shorts as a percentage of free float on the solar battery company slid by four percentage points to 19.8% – a seven-week low. Concurrently, shares of Enphase were down just 2.2%, with price action coiling within a month-long bounce from multi-year lows seen on August 6. Year-to-date however, Enphase – which has also recently lost its place in the S&P 500 index – is now down 45%.