Nayax Ltd. enters the final day of September with its chairman and co-founder buying shares aggressively in the open market while the stock's short score edges to a six-week high.
The insider activity is the standout this week. Yair Nechmad, CEO and co-founder of NYAX, made multiple open-market purchases on both September 28 and 29, none under a 10b5-1 pre-arranged plan, accumulating roughly 41,935 shares at prices clustering between ILS 44.71 and ILS 45.49. Combined, those trades translate to approximately $1.86 million in purchases over two sessions. Net insider buying over the past 90 days totals around 153,000 shares worth roughly $6.75 million, a meaningful signal from someone who already holds close to 20% of the company. On the same days, a handful of other executives filed small sales: the CSO sold 54 shares, the North America CEO sold 219, and the CHRO sold 200. Those are token figures beside Nechmad's commitment, and the contrast makes the CEO's conviction clearer.
The backdrop for those purchases is a stock that has recovered modestly on the week but remains under pressure over the month. The price closed at ILS 136.8 on September 29, up 4.4% for the week but down 11.5% over the past month. That monthly slide appears to be what's pulling Nechmad toward the market. The borrow market offers no particular drama here. Availability is running at roughly 179% relative to existing short interest, well inside the past year's range and far from any squeeze territory. Cost to borrow is ticking lower, down about 8% on the week to 4.5%, and has pulled back from a brief spike to near 6% in mid-September. There is no sign of unusual demand for new short positions in the lending market.
The ORTEX short score has been drifting higher, reaching 51.1 on September 29 from 48.3 on September 17. That's a notable directional move, though the absolute level remains in the middle of the range. More interesting is the divergence: the short score is climbing at the same time as the CEO is buying. The factor picture adds nuance. The forward earnings revision rank scores in the 90th percentile, an unusually strong reading for a company of this size on TASE. By contrast, EPS surprise ranks in the 8th percentile and the dividend score is soft at 22. The earnings revision story is what supported the recent ORTEX stock-score note that flagged a 922% forward EPS growth figure, though that reading reflects a low earnings base rather than a straightforward acceleration. Valuation data is stale (flagged at 45 days old), so the PE and EV/EBITDA multiples cited in the snapshot should be treated as indicative rather than current.
On the register, the picture reflects a tightly held stock. Nechmad and fellow co-founders David Ben Avi and Amir Nechmad together account for more than 54% of shares. Among institutional holders, Meitav Investment House added 1.77 million shares as recently as September 14, and Phoenix and Harel both filed amended 13G/Gs in recent months showing positions just below the 5% threshold. As the disclosure note on those filings makes clear, stakes are as last reported around the 5% level, and holders who trim below that threshold are not required to file again, so the actual institutional register may have shifted since the last disclosure.
The most recent earnings print, in August, produced a one-day move of minus 25% and a five-day move of minus 31%, a sharp reaction that likely contributed to the monthly decline in the stock. The next event is currently dated for November 18. What to watch between now and then is whether Nechmad's buying cluster represents a one-week phenomenon or continues into October, and whether the short score's steady climb toward the mid-50s reflects genuine repositioning or simply mirrors the price action.
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