Bears Pile Into Power and AI Names

Short sellers made their biggest moves of the week in energy and AI, with Talen Energy and Cerebras Systems seeing the sharpest rises in short interest among stocks worth over $500 million.

TLN short interest jumped from 5.5% to 10.7% of free float in just seven days. That is a doubling of the short position. Talen is a power company closely tied to the data centre buildout trade. Bears appear to be fading the AI-energy narrative.

Cerebras, the AI chip firm that listed in late 2024, saw short interest climb from 15.2% to 19.8% of free float over the same period. That is a 4.6 percentage point rise. The stock carries a $12.3 billion market cap. Shorts are growing despite strong EPS momentum.

Wolfspeed remains one of the most heavily shorted names in the market. Short interest stands at 86.5% of free float. Zero shares are available to borrow, meaning new shorts cannot be opened easily. A squeeze remains a real risk.

Hertz Global Holdings also stays in focus. Short interest sits at 73.4% of free float. Cost to borrow is 49%, and availability is zero. Social media traders have repeatedly flagged HTZ as a squeeze candidate.

Liquidia saw the second-biggest weekly jump among pharma names. Short interest rose 7.6 percentage points to 26.5% of free float, reaching a $4 billion market cap stock. That is a notable move ahead of any potential regulatory news on its pulmonary hypertension drug.

India domestic auto sales rose 24% year-on-year in October, per ORTEX alternative data. That is a third straight monthly gain. Watch Honda Motor, which reports Thursday, as Japanese car sales data runs 10% below year-earlier levels.