Why short sellers are losing interest in these 11 stocks
A look at companies experiencing a notable month-on-month decline in short interest.
Source: iStock
Mentioned
KEY POINTS
- 11 ASX-listed companies that have experienced a notable month-on-month fall in short interest
- Notable stocks include beaten up covid winners and mid-tier gold miners
- 'Junky' tech names like Kogan, Zip and PointsBet have experienced a strong rebound since late December
Welcome back to the Monthly Short Seller Series. This time, we take a look at companies experiencing a notable month-on-month decline in short interest.
The data refers short interest changes between 28 November and 23 December 2022.
Ticker | Company | Short interest | Prev month | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Betmakers Technology | 7.49% | 15.14% | -7.7% | |
Domino's Pizza | 6.53% | 11.29% | -4.8% | |
St Barbara | 3.69% | 8.12% | -4.4% | |
City Chic Collective | 2.71% | 6.74% | -4.0% | |
Bellevue Gold | 3.82% | 5.83% | -2.0% | |
Nanosonics | 6.71% | 8.54% | -1.8% | |
Appen | 3.28% | 5.11% | -1.8% | |
Imugene | 3.25% | 4.52% | -1.3% | |
BWX | 2.92% | 4.15% | -1.2% | |
Gold Road Resources | 4.42% | 5.58% | -1.2% | |
Kogan.com | 4.24% | 5.35% | -1.1% |
Interesting observations
Very beaten up: There's quite a few names on the list that have been sold to oblivion in the last twelve months. This includes: BWX (-96%), City Chic Collective (-91.5%), Appen (-74.9%), Betmakers (-64.4%) and Imugene (-55.8%).
A bounce for 'junky' names: Companies like Betmakers, Appen and Kogan were classic covid winners turned to rising rate losers. However, since 29 December 2022, a lot of these unprofitable covid runners (including ones not on the shorts decline list) have started to bounce, with returns including:
Kogan +20.8%
Zip +21%
PointsBet +15.2%
Temple & Webster +7.1%
Gold soars: Three mid-ish cap gold names have appeared on the list: St Barbara, Bellevue Gold and Gold Road Resources. This coincides with a recent surge in gold prices, up around 13.8% since November lows to a six month high of US$1,854 an ounce. A weaker US dollar, plateauing bond yields and easing inflation figures has helped the yellow metal get its groove back. Of note, Bellevue Gold shares are up around 10% on Thursday.
