Short sellers made their boldest moves of late August in healthcare and semiconductors. MMED (MiniMed Group) saw the sharpest weekly rise among mid-cap US stocks. Short Interest % of Free Float jumped to 28.4% from 23.0% in just seven days — a 5.3 percentage point spike.
TENB (Tenable Holdings) was close behind. SI % FF climbed from 9.1% to 13.8%, a 4.7pp gain. The cybersecurity firm has been under pressure amid an uncertain enterprise spending backdrop.
Chip maker WOLF (Wolfspeed) remains one of the most heavily shorted names on the NYSE. SI sits at 73.3% of free float with zero shares available to borrow. That combination of extreme short positioning and no availability signals bears are locked in — but also raises squeeze risk sharply.
FLWS (1-800-Flowers) holds a similarly punishing 74.1% SI % FF with 29 days-to-cover. The stock is down over 26% in three months.
On the covering side, VIK (Viking Holdings) saw short interest drop 2.75pp to just , as shorts backed away from the leisure travel name. (Abercrombie & Fitch) also saw covers, falling from 9.4% to — a relief for the apparel retailer.
Meanwhile, AVGO (Broadcom) drew headlines after posting strong AI chip revenue. With SI at only 1.2%, short sellers are nowhere near this name.
Global bond market volatility and geopolitical tension around Iran added macro uncertainty this week. Bears appear to be concentrating fire on smaller, structurally challenged companies while leaving large-cap AI winners alone.
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.
