Chunghwa Telecom Lightly Shorted as Peers Face More Pressure

Chunghwa Telecom sits at one of the quieter corners of the global telecoms lending market right now, while most of its closest peers carry noticeably heavier short positioning.

Among the correlated peer group, TELIA added 2.4% on the week, TLS gained 1.8%, and SCMN rose 1.9%. Chunghwa lagged all three, up just 0.6% to TWD 159.0. That relative softness has not attracted short sellers, though. Short interest on the stock is at its lowest level in at least a year, with availability running at 1,547%, meaning there are roughly fifteen shares available to borrow for every one already lent out. The lending pool is barely touched. Borrow costs, at 0.54%, have edged up about 13% on the week and 15% over the past month, but remain firmly in "low" territory. Nothing in the borrow market points to any meaningful short conviction.

The ORTEX short score of 30.3, down steadily from 32.1 ten days ago, reinforces that picture. A lower score reflects reduced short-side pressure, and the direction of travel here has been consistently lower through October. The dividend factor score ranks in the 93rd percentile of the universe, which is the principal reason institutional holders tend to stay put. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications holds 35.3% of shares, a stake that last changed hands at zero. BlackRock added a modest 1.4 million shares to its 2.9% position, and Norges Bank added around 4 million shares to reach 0.56%, both as of September quarter-end. The register is dominated by long-term strategic and income-oriented holders, leaving relatively little freely circulating stock for short sellers to target even if they wanted to.

Analyst data for Chunghwa Telecom is too stale to cite. The most recent price target on record is from August 2026, and no analyst changes have been filed since. The valuation picture is therefore best read from the multiples alone. The PE ratio has drifted up to around 29.6, a 30-day rise of roughly 2.4 points, while EV/EBITDA has edged fractionally lower to 13.1. Both moves are consistent with a stock that has appreciated about 8.9% over the past month without a corresponding earnings catalyst to match. The earnings yield and EV/EBIT factor scores rank in the 32nd and 20th percentiles respectively, confirming the market is not paying a cheap price for this cash flow.

The company files its next earnings report on November 6. The prior print in August produced a one-day move of just 0.4% and gave back that ground by the end of the week, a pattern typical of a stock where the result rarely surprises and the income story is the whole thesis. The monthly revenue data filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange is tracked by ORTEX Alt Data, though the series does not yet have enough history to test whether it leads the quarterly print, so it carries colour rather than signal weight.

The level worth monitoring is whether short interest begins to rebuild from its current floor. With availability this deep and borrow costs this subdued, there is no friction stopping new short positions from forming, which makes any uptick in the short score or a tightening of availability the clearest early indicator that the picture is changing.