VNET Short Interest Rises to 23.5%
Welcome to this week's installment of "The Short Interest Report" - The Fly's weekly recap of short interest trends among some of the most widely followed high-short-float stocks. Using the data from our partner, which utilizes the latest information from stock lenders to estimate short interest changes for thousands of publicly traded companies, this report will screen for some of biggest changes in short interest as a percentage of free float and days-to-cover ratios while also considering the short interest data on some of the more volatile and heavier-traded names of the week. Based on the availability of data from Ortex, the report tracks the trading period that covers prior Friday through Thursday of this week, excluding holidays. As a basis of comparison for stocks discussed below, the S&P 500 index was down 2.5%, the Nasdaq Composite was down 4.8%, the Russell 2000 index was down 2.9%, the Russell 2000 Growth ETFwas down 5.1%, and the Russell 2000 Value ETFwas down 0.5% in the five-day trading session range through February 5.SHORT INTEREST GAINERSOrtex-reported short interest on VNET Groupbroke down and troughed below 20% in mid-January as bears pared exposure amid the stock's 46% spike in the first two calendar weeks of the new year. Over the past two weeks however, that rally has stalled while bearish positioning has been built up briskly. In the five-day period covered, shorts as a percentage of free float on VNET was up from 20.9% to 23.5% - the highest level in four months. Days-to-cover on the name tracked sideways however just above 5.0, reflecting rising trading activity. The stock is down 8% through Thursday, though year-to-date, VNET has risen 30%. The Chinese internet data center services provider will report its 2025 results later this month.Ortex-reported short interest on Apellis Pharmaceuticalstroughed below 18% in mid-January, coinciding with a two-week low in the stock price - attributed to the management being short on financial guidance - in the wake of the company's update and product guidance at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. The subsequent three-week-long run-up in the stock price has also been tracked higher by the bearish positioning, and even the stock's recent inclusion in the S&P SmallCap 600 index last week – prompting a 6% next-day price jump – did not turn shorts away. This week, shorts as a percentage of free float gained from 20.9% to 23.1%, while shares were down 2.2% in the five-day period covered.Ortex-reported short interest on Lenz Therapeuticstroughed around 31% - a four-month low - at the end of 2025 but has since tracked higher, and the slope of the increase has steepened this week. Shorts as a percentage of free float on the stock rose three points to 44.7%, the highest level since the first week of December, while days-to-cover jumped from 8.2 to 10.2 – also a two-month high. The stock was down 21% in the five-day period covered, slipping below the $14 level on Thursday for the first time since 2023, with only a modest 1.8% bounce back on Friday in spite of a broad-based market rally. Lenz Therapeutics has now lost 72% from its October high.SHORT INTEREST DECLINERSOrtex-reported short interest in Altimmunehad tracked sideways above 23% since the second week of December despite heighted volatility in the stock around the December 19th announcement of its results from IMPACT Phase 2b trial of pemvidutide – which saw shares weaken – and then the receipt of the FDA breakthrough therapy designation for the drug on January 5th that prompted a sharp rebound. This week however, even with shares losing some modest ground of about 4% in the five-day period through Thursday, shorts as a percentage of free float was down more concretely. Short interest in Altimmune fell from 25.4% to Wednesday's low of 19.8% - the lowest level since April of 2024 – while days to cover slipped from 7.6 to 5.4.Ortex-reported short interest in BRC Groupreached a six-month high of about 45% in mid-December, though with the stock having more than doubled by mid-January, bears have also been cutting their losses. This week, the capitulation shifted into higher gear, with short interest as a percentage of free float reduced from 31.7% to a low of 22% - the lowest level since October of 2023. The stock was down 22% in the five-day period covered through Thursday, though year-to-date – and inclusive of Friday's 9.5% jump - BRC is still up an impressive 69%.
