US Short Selling Report: Apple Most Shorted, Nvidia Most Unprofitable

U.S. stocks have trended upward over the past 30 days, with both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ indices increasing by +1.6%. Short sellers reduced their bets, cutting short interest by $33 billion to $978 billion.

In 2023, Apple saw its revenue decline YoY in every quarter for the first time since 2001. The company's guidance for the December quarter, projecting flat revenues compared to the previous year, did little to reassure investors. Analysts forecast potential weakness in Apple's iPhone and services sectors,citing a 30% drop in iPhone sales in China in early 2024, and also express skepticism that the new premium-priced Vision Pro AR headset will substantially increase revenues. Additionally, Apple's valuation seems expensive, with its forward PE ratio at 28 times, compared to its ten-year historical average of 19.86, according to LSEG data.

Despite narrowly meeting delivery targets in 2023, the investors remain skeptical about Tesla's future growth and profitability. Bernstein analysts believe that based on the "disappointing" pace of delivery growth and the impact of price reductions, Tesla's profitability in 2024 will further diminish, potentially bringing gross margins down to 15.7%, below the general market expectation of 17.8%. HSBC analysts also indicate that there is uncertainty surrounding the commercialization progress of the Dojo supercomputer, the FSD software, and the humanoid robot Optimus.

NVIDIA has soared over the past thirty days, becoming the least profitable short. Here are the most unprofitable shorts over the last thirty days, the shorts with the largest increase in the mark-to-market value of shares shorted.

Changes in short interest indicate where investors are adjusting their short positions, while shifts in shares shorted directly impact trading and stock prices.

The largest increases in shares bought-to-cover over the last thirty days are: