NIPG shorts retreat as price falls 28% in a month

NIP Group heads into the weekend with a sharp divergence between price pressure and positioning relief — the stock down 28% over the past month, yet short interest collapsing simultaneously.

The clearest story this week is the unwinding of borrow-driven pressure. Short interest shed 40% in a single week, dropping to roughly 9,700 shares — just 0.008% of the free float, a level so small it is effectively immaterial. The cost to borrow fell alongside it, easing nearly 45% on the week to 15.8%, after spending most of April and early May in the 25–40% range. That is a meaningful relaxation from the peak borrow costs seen in mid-March, when rates briefly touched 42%. Availability is now ample — at current utilisation levels, borrowing headroom is substantial, and there is no mechanical squeeze pressure in the lending market.

The price story runs in the opposite direction. NIPG closed at $0.52 on Friday, down 2.8% on the day and 15.5% on the week. The one-month decline of 28% is steep for any stock, and for a name already trading below a dollar, it concentrates attention on whether there is a fundamental catalyst behind the move or whether liquidity dynamics are driving the tape. The most recent earnings event, on May 14, saw the stock fall 9% on the day — a repeat of the December 2025 print, which triggered a 3.5% one-day drop and a 21% five-day decline. The one prior earnings event, in late April, was essentially flat on the day but faded 12% over the following five sessions. The pattern across recent events is skewed to the downside.

Analyst coverage is sparse and stale. Maxim Group holds the only tracked rating — a Buy maintained in May 2025 with a target cut from $12 to $6. That target date is now a full year old and is not reliable as a valuation anchor against a current price of $0.52. The data should be treated as background context only. The ORTEX short score has been falling steadily through the week, from 43.2 on May 8 to 34.9 by May 14, indicating the short-side conviction in this name is unwinding — consistent with the sharp drop in shares short.

Ownership is concentrated. Apex Cyber Capital holds 18.3% of shares and added over 10 million shares as recently as March. Chang-wei Chiu holds 12.9%. The top holders between them account for roughly 57% of shares, meaning free float is limited and day-to-day price moves can be amplified by thin liquidity rather than conviction flows. Among correlated peers this week, FDEV rose 15% while MITQ fell 4.7% — the peer basket was mixed, offering little directional read-through to NIPG specifically.

The setup worth watching next is whether the continued collapse in short interest and borrow costs stabilises price action, or whether the month-long price decline reflects something more structural that the short-side retreat has not resolved.