Short sellers turned notably more aggressive this week. Several mid-cap names saw sharp SI increases over just seven days.
SWBI (Smith & Wesson Brands) saw the biggest move among liquid names. Short interest jumped from 6.0% to 10.1% of free float — a 68% relative increase in one week. No single catalyst is clear. Bears may be betting on a slowdown in firearms demand heading into the fourth quarter.
SIG (Signet Jewelers) also attracted fresh shorts. SI climbed from 14.5% to 17.8% FF, a 3.4 percentage-point rise. With consumer spending under pressure, bears appear to be targeting discretionary retail ahead of the holiday season.
On the other side, shorts are retreating from SPCX (SpaceX). SI fell from 25.6% to 20.7% FF over the week — a meaningful 4.9pp cover. Despite a 17% three-month price drop, short sellers appear to be booking profits.
CHWY (Chewy) remains one of the most heavily shorted stocks in the US at 74.1% FF. Shorts dipped slightly from 77.7%, but availability sits at a massive 484% of SI — meaning bears still have plenty of room to add.
WOLF (Wolfspeed) holds 82.4% FF short with zero share availability. That is a squeeze-watch setup. The semiconductor stock has lost more than 55% over three months and borrowers are fully tapped out.
HTZ (Hertz) rounds out the watch list at 68.1% FF short, also with no shares left to borrow. Two heavily shorted names with zero availability in one week is unusual — worth monitoring closely.
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.
