Bears Pile In: GME, BRVE and SPCX Lead the Week's Short Surge

Short sellers moved fast this week. ORTEX data through September 23 shows sharp SI changes across several names — with some genuinely surprising moves.

Braveheart Bio leads extremes. BRVE now sits at a staggering 367% SI of free float. That jumped from 223% just a week ago. Bears have doubled down on this pharma name through September. With availability effectively at zero, any squeeze catalyst could be violent.

GameStop bounces back on shorts' radar. GME SI hit 7.2% of free float on September 23. That's up from just 0.9% a week prior. The meme favourite had fallen as low as 0.2% mid-week. Shorts are clearly re-entering. CTB remains low at 0.46%, so the trade is cheap for now.

SpaceX keeps climbing. SPCX short interest rose to 29.4% of FF this week, up from 21.8% on September 16. With a $1.2 trillion market cap, that's a significant short position building in Elon Musk's rocket company.

Leslie's bankruptcy looms. LESL is preparing a Chapter 11 filing as early as next week, per WSJ. SI sits at 27% of FF. Shares to borrow are nearly gone — availability is just 0.88% of SI.

Wolfspeed stays heavily targeted. WOLF holds 80% SI of FF with zero availability. Bears see no exit for this chipmaker.