Bears Circle Chewy and Wix as Short Bets Spike

Short sellers turned aggressive this week, with several mid-cap names seeing sharp jumps in bearish positioning. Data from ORTEX as of September 9 shows the moves are real and accelerating.

WIX led the charge. Short Interest as a % of Free Float jumped nearly 7.5 percentage points in seven days to 18.2%. That's a rapid build for the web-platform firm and puts it firmly on the radar of squeeze-watchers.

CHWY remains one of the more crowded short trades in US markets. Chewy's SI hit 54.9% of free float, up 4.1 points in a week. Availability sits at 453% — plenty of stock to borrow — suggesting bears face little friction adding here.

WOLF carries a staggering 75.8% short interest. The semiconductor firm has zero availability left, meaning new short positions are almost impossible to open. That's a powder keg if sentiment turns.

GRPN remains heavily shorted at 67.7% of free float, with just 16.8% availability. Days-to-cover sits above nine. FLWS — 1-800-Flowers — is also deep in bear territory at 74.1%, with a short score of 85.

On the high-score board, LUCK (Lucky Strike Entertainment) carries a 95 short score and costs 35.6% annually to borrow. EVCM borrow rates hit 40.5% APR — a sign shorts are paying up.

Meanwhile, ORCL reported strong Q1 results, citing 42% sequential growth in AI usage. Short interest there is minimal at just 2.8% — bulls are firmly in control.