EVs Shorted to the Hilt as Gates Loads Up on Waste

Short Sellers Target Distress

Bears are pressing hard on high-risk growth names. Lucid Group short interest jumped 14 points to 49.7% of free float. Wolfspeed sits at a staggering 83% — the most shorted semiconductor stock in the market. Both names are down sharply over three months. Available shares to borrow are near zero for both. That combination keeps squeeze risk elevated heading into the week.

Big Insider Moves Filed

Bill Gates filed purchases of $241M in Republic Services shares. The buys were spread across 15 transactions in late August and early September. On the other side, NVIDIA board member Mark Stevens disclosed $411M in stock sales over three days. The NVIDIA sale was discretionary — not under a pre-arranged plan — making it a notable signal to watch.

Analysts Back Ad-Tech and Travel

AppLovin drew the biggest analyst upgrade of the week. The consensus target now stands at $508. Short sellers hold just 4.2% of free float. Adobe received a modest target lift. Travel names including Airbnb, Expedia, and DoorDash all saw upward revisions. Kroger was the outlier — analysts trimmed its target amid margin pressure.

Earnings Calendar Kicks Off

Trip.com Group reports Q2 results Tuesday. It is a key read on Asian consumer demand. UK infrastructure name Kier Group also reports full-year results that day. Homebuilder Lennar and insurer Progressive are the week's heavyweight US names. Today's session starts with Hain Celestial on its Q4 earnings call.