Overstock, Roku Among Top Stocks In Short-Seller Circles

Market data provider Astec Analytics releases a weekly list of top shorted stocks. Here's the firm's take on six of this week's most-shorted equities. 

Top Pick: Redfin

The top short is Redfin Corp RDFN, a provider of residential real estate brokerage services. The stock has risen from its IPO offering level of $15 to close last week at $26.01 and, as is the case with new IPO stocks, short interest rises quickly as shares become available to short. In fact, utilization has remained above 80 percent for most days since September and finished last week north of 93 percent.

1. Overstock

Online retailer Overstock.com Inc OSTK continues to expand its exposure to bitcoin. But at the same time short interest has been rising steadily since the middle of October, and when the stock closed last week at $68.35 — up 258 percent for 2017 — short interest volume as a proportion of supply stood just shy of 95 percent.

2. Qudian

A new entry to the hot short list is Qudian Inc - ADR QD, a China-based online provider of cash credit products. After jumping 45 percent after its IPO, the stock peaked at $34.90. As of the end of last week, utilization stood at just over 99 percent and has been above 75 percent for a month.

Related Link: Why Did Shares Of Chinese Internet Microlender Qudian Plunge Friday?

3. Snap

Snap Inc SNAP, a regular member of the hot stocks to short list, ended last week's trading session at $15.75. While short interest volume has been declining since it peaked in mid-November, utilization has fallen by just 7 percent, closing last week at 87.5 percent.

4. Roku

Roku Inc ROKU's stock continues to trade near its all-time high of $58.80. While short sellers have been active in closing out their position, utilization rates did increase over the past week. At the same time, short selling volume did fall 6 percent — which implies that a bubble may burst.

5. AMC Entertainment

Finally, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC saw a small 2-percent rise in short volume last week, which translated into a 14-percent rise in utilization rates to end the week at just over 85 percent.

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