Short sellers turned notably aggressive this week. Three names stand out from the noise.
CAR — Avis Budget Group — saw short interest jump to 47.5% of free float, up 7 percentage points in just seven days. That is a striking move for a $6.5bn rental car company. Bears appear unconvinced by any travel sector recovery narrative.
SHAZ — SharonAI Holdings — posted the biggest weekly spike. Short interest surged from 11.9% to 33.2%, a 21-point leap. Availability of shares to borrow sits at just 5%. That tight supply mixed with rising short bets is a combustible setup.
CBRS — Cerebras Systems — is another AI-adjacent name attracting bears. Short interest hit 31.6%, up nearly 4 points this week. Availability reads at zero, meaning new shorts have nowhere to go. A squeeze is possible.
On the other side, CHWY shorts are quietly covering. Chewy's SI fell from 71% to 69.3%. Still extraordinarily high. But the direction has changed.
Broader market sentiment remains shaky. The Dow dropped over 500 points today after the Fed signalled further tightening. Fear dominates the greed index. That macro backdrop tends to keep short sellers emboldened — especially in names like CAR and SHAZ where borrow is scarce.
This is not financial advice.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.