Short sellers turned aggressive this week. Hertz Global Holdings saw the sharpest move among larger names. Its SI % of free float jumped nearly 10 percentage points in seven days to 70.1%. The rental car company has been in bear territory all month. Its availability sits at zero — no shares left to borrow.
Wolfspeed tells a different story. Short interest fell from over 103% to 78.5% of free float in a week. That's a sharp 24-point drop. Shorts are covering fast. With zero availability, any further squeeze pressure could push them out entirely.
Chewy also saw bears retreat. SI dropped 8 points to 66.5% after peaking at 76% on July 8. The stock remains deeply shorted but the trend is reversing.
The biggest SI jump of the week belongs to SpaceX-linked SPCX. Short interest exploded from 3.7% to 27.6% in just seven days — a 24-point surge, the largest move tracked.
Tango Therapeutics also drew heavy new shorting. SI hit , up nearly 16 points.
In the news, PayPal caught attention after reports that Stripe is exploring an acquisition bid. PayPal's SI sits at a modest 6.3% — bears are not positioned for a deal collapse.
Iran-US tensions dominated macro headlines, lifting oil and defence names. Geopolitical risk remains the key overhang for markets heading into next week.
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.
