Bears Circle Real Estate as Heavy Earnings Week Begins

REITs Under Pressure

Real estate stocks face a double squeeze. Scotiabank analyst Nicholas Yulico slashed targets across at least seven names in one sweep. MAA took the sharpest blow — downgraded to Sell with a $125 target. UDR, INVH, SPG, and REG all had targets cut to Hold. Short sellers are piling in too. The SPDR Insurance ETF KIE saw short interest spike 25% in a week to 24.1% of float. VNO shorts jumped 20% to 5.8% of free float. Rate pressure is the common thread across all these moves.

Short Interest Extremes

HTZ sits at the danger zone. Short interest has hit 67.2% of free float — up 7.3 points in one week. Shares available to borrow have dried up entirely. LCID saw the sharpest weekly jump, up 14.6 points to 50.1% of float. The EV maker is down 21% over three months. CHWY shorts climbed another 5.6 points to 72.6% despite the stock gaining 18% in three months — a divergence that could fuel a squeeze.

Earnings Week Kicks Off

Progressive reports today. The $126 billion insurer is the headline name in a week where 981 US and Canadian companies post results. Europe adds another 1,472. French firms Virbac and Robertet SA also report today.

Activist Pressure at Cooper

Jana Partners is pushing Cooper Companies to replace its CEO, according to the Wall Street Journal. The activist investor sent a letter to the board. Cooper makes contact lenses and has a multi-billion dollar market cap. CEO changes demanded by activists tend to move stocks sharply in either direction.