Bears Double Down on Chewy and Hertz

Short sellers piled into two consumer names this week. CHWY saw its SI % of Free Float climb to 72.4% — up 5.8 percentage points in seven days. HTZ followed close behind, rising 4.9 points to 75.0% of float. Both stocks sit at extreme levels with no sign of cover.

WOLF remains the most shorted name in semiconductors at 80.2% SI % FF. The SiC chipmaker's stock surged 162% in three months. Yet short sellers aren't backing off. Cost to borrow sits at 6.6% APR.

The biggest fresh move belongs to Columbia Financial. CLBK saw short interest rocket from 5.3% to 27.6% of float in just one week — a jump of over 22 points. That's the largest single-week build in the US market above a $500M cap.

LCID shorts are unwinding. SI dropped 2.5 points to 36.0% of float. Cost to borrow sits at a punishing 146.6% APR — the squeeze pressure is building fast.

LUCK carries the highest ORTEX short score at 96. Days-to-cover hit 47. That's nearly two full months of average volume needed to cover all shorts — a textbook squeeze setup.

RUM short interest holds at 20.4% with a CTB of 9.3%. The social media platform continues to attract bearish positioning despite a 34% rally over three months.