Asana Short Interest Soars to 33%
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 up 3.2%, the Nasdaq Composite was up 5.6%, the Russell 2000 index was up 3.2%, the Russell 2000 Growth ETFwas up 4.8% and the Russell 2000 Value ETFwas up 1.3% in the five-day trading session range through April 16.SHORT INTEREST GAINERSOrtex-reported short interest on Asanahas spiked to fresh record highs as the workflow management company continues to find itself at the epicenter of "SaaS-pocalypse" with little interest from investors in buying this year's near-60% dip in spite of the rebound among some of the more established Software Application names in recent days. Shorts as a percentage of free float on Asana briefly topped 30% in early March, retreated to 27% by the first week of April, but this week, bears pushed that expression higher again to reach 33%. The stock was up 2% in the five-day period covered, but year-to-date, Asana is still down 57%.Ortex-reported short interest in Establishment Labshad troughed at 22% around mid-February - just days ahead of the company's better than expected results – and a subsequent four-year-high in the stock helped keep the bears at bay. Bearish expression hardly budged despite the 35% swoon in the stock price since the broader market downturn in March, though with broader sentiment recovering and the stock bouncing nearly 30% off its lows, sellers are stepping in with bets on renewed downside. This week, shorts as a percentage of free float on Establishment Labs spiked to a three-month high of 27% and days-to-cover on the name rose from 8.6 to 10.6, reflecting seasonally low trading volume thus far in April. The stock was up 4% in the five-day-period through Thursday, though year-to-date, the medical device company is still down over 9%.Ortex-reported short interest in Kohl'slast peaked around 26% in mid-March as the stock price collapsed about 40% over a span of a month on broader market selloff before the bears booked profits on their positions through the second half of last month and into April. With shares nudging higher over the past few days however, bears are refreshing their exposure at higher price levels. This week, shorts interest as a percentage of free float on Kohl's Rose from 23% to exceed 27% - the highest level since December – while days-to-cover bounced from 5.8 to 6.9. Shares of the retail chain were up about 5% in a five-day period covered through Thursday. Year-to-date, Kohls is still down nearly 30% - a worse performance relative to its department store peers like Macy'sand Dillard's, which are down by significantly smaller margins.SHORT INTEREST DECLINERSOrtex-reported short interest on Nano Nuclearhas been in retreat since the first week of February when it peaked around 37%, though unlike the downward sloping price action of the initial two months, this week's pullback is sharper and correlates with the bears exiting amid a bounce in the stock price. In the five-day period covered, shorts as a percentage of free float on Nano Nuclear fell from 27% all the way below 20% before settle Thursday at 21.4%. Days-to- cover on the name were also down – from 6.0 to 4.7 – helped relatively higher trading volume observed in April. Meanwhile, shares were up 16% in the five days through Thursday and another 6% on Friday, helping the stock recover losses of as much as 21% year-to-date registered just over two weeks ago.
