Bears Circle Chewy, Hertz and Wolfspeed

Short sellers are piling into a cluster of beaten-down names this week. Three stocks stand out as the most active targets, and one regional bank saw a dramatic jump in bearish bets.

CHWY (Chewy) has 72% of its free float sold short. Bears added another 5.8 percentage points in just seven days. The pet-retail stock remains one of the most crowded short trades among US names with a market cap above $1 billion.

HTZ (Hertz) is close behind at 75% SI % FF. Short interest climbed nearly 5 points over the week. Availability to borrow is now zero — a sign that lenders have run dry and new shorts face real friction entering the trade.

WOLF (Wolfspeed) sits at 80% SI % FF, the highest of the trio. The semiconductor firm has surged 162% in three months but bears refuse to let go. Cost to borrow stands at 6.6%.

The week's biggest mover was CLBK (Columbia Financial). Short interest jumped 22 percentage points in seven days — from 5.3% to 27.6% of free float. That is a sharp, sudden build that warrants close attention.

Mega-cap earnings from TSLA and META this week keep markets on edge. Both remain lightly shorted at under 3% and 2% of free float respectively.