Short Report: Grindr shorts at record highs as CFO quits before earnings

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 0.4%, the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3%, the Russell 2000 index was down 1.8%, the Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) was down 0.9%, and the Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN) was down 3.0%% in the five-day trading session range through July 31.

SHORT INTEREST GAINERS

• Ortex-reported short interest in Grindr (GRND) – fresh off a mid-June spike from 20% to 70% – is soaring again. This week, shorts as a percentage of free float on the name jumped from 76.1% to 82.1% – a fresh record high – while days-to-cover on the name is up from 2.7 to 3.2. The stock has navigated some cautionary developments this week as the company CFO Vanna Krantz has announce her resignation with just under three years on the job and the week before the company is set to report its Q2 earnings. In the first week of June, shares of Grindr had risen over 70% from the stock’s March lows, though it has now erased nearly all of those gains and trades down 4% year-to-date. This week, as bears boosted their bets, shares were down 8.7% in the five-day period covered.
• Ortex-reported short interest in SolarEdge (SEDG) peaked above 78% in the first week of March and has been on a steep down-slope through mid-July toward a 26% low, just as the stock price broke out of its wide trading range earlier last month en route to a one-year high on July 22nd. This week however, with traders taking profits in the stock following a near-tripling from April lows, bears are also more emboldened. In the five-day period covered through Thursday, shorts as a percentage of free float for SolarEdge were up from 26.7% to 29.0% – a three-week high, while days-to-cover on the name was up from 2.5 to 4.0. The stock fell about 10% in the five-day period, though year-to-date, SolarEdge is still up nearly 90%.
• Ortex-reported short interest in Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (TARS) has found consistent lows around 24% on three separate occasions since December of 2024, though this month, bears are not waiting to add exposure, with the stock on the verge of plunging to fresh 2025 lows below $39 per share. Shorts as a percentage of free float jumped from 25% to 27% this week – the highest level since November of last year. Days-to-cover on the name was also up notably, rising from 9.7 to 10.8. The company reports Q2 results over the coming week, having registered significantly lower closes on its last two earnings days. In the five-day period covered, Tarsus was down 8.5% through Thursday, with shares also shedding 26% year-to-date.

SHORT INTEREST DECLINERS

• Ortex-reported short interest in Kohl’s (KSS) is down sharply following a brief spike last week in conjunction with a single-day near-doubling of its stock price reminiscent of meme-stock heyday. Shorts as a percentage of free float jumped from 43% to record-high 53% late last week with reports of retail traders seeking to engineer a short-squeeze in the beleaguered retail chain, though this week, bearish fever has broken, and short interest has receded back from 49.6% to 42.4% – the lowest level since the first week of April. In the wake of a week-long spike in volume, days to cover on the name was also down sharply – sliding from 6.3 to 3.8, a multi-month low. The stock is down 20.5% in the five-day period covered, and shares are now off by 24% year-to-date.
• Ortex-reported short interest in Rocket Companies (RKT) had spiked up to a record-high of 82% late last week, with bears looking to fade the stock’s 25% gains over a prior three day span, though this week, the extreme bearish surge is reversing. Shorts as a percentage of free float slipped back to 41%, while days-to-cover reverted to 10.0 from 10.2. In the five-day period covered, shares of Rocket were down less than 1%, before being bid up by 12% on Friday. Soft Employment and Manufacturing sentiment data drove investors away from risky assets and toward the safety of Treasuries, pressuring yields and paving the way to more certain interest rate cuts that would unlock the frozen mortgage market and presumably benefit a company like Rocket.