Bears Pile In: Chips, EVs and Energy in Focus

Short sellers stepped up pressure across several names last week. The data for 29 October shows some notable moves worth watching.

Wolfspeed remains the most heavily shorted name among mid-cap stocks. Its SI hit 88.6% of free float, up 4.8 percentage points in seven days. Bears are not letting up on the struggling semiconductor maker, which was already feature in recent ORTEX "chips rout" coverage alongside broader AI spending concerns.

Cerebras Systems drew fresh attention from short sellers too. SI jumped from 14.9% to 20.1% of free float in a week, a 5.2 point rise. The AI chip upstart only listed recently, and sceptics appear to be building positions fast.

Talen Energy saw its SI nearly double in seven days, climbing 4.6 points to 10.8% of free float. The power company is tied to data centre energy demand, a theme attracting both bulls and bears.

Grindr added 4.9 points to reach 19.4% short interest. Social platform stocks with stretched valuations continue to draw bearish bets.

On the high short score list, EverCommerce leads with a score of 97 and a cost to borrow of 87.6%. Its SI stands at 15%, with availability at just 0.6%, making new short positions extremely difficult to open.

Hertz stays deeply shorted at 73.5% of free float, with a 40% cost to borrow. 1-800-Flowers sits at 79.2% with 25 days to cover, a potential squeeze candidate heading into the holiday season.

Meanwhile, big-cap chip names like NVDA and INTC saw marginal short covering despite last week's broader sector sell-off.