Last Week's Best Performing Shorts - S3

S3 Partners Head of Research Ihor Dusaniwsky provides a recap of the best performing short positions in the U.S., using proprietary data tracking $890 billion worth of short positions and ranked by mark-to-market profits for the week ending July 28th.

Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) bears won the week, generating nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in mark-to-market profits, with shares falling 17.6% last week following the company's disappointing fourth quarter earnings announcement, where management delivered EPS and revenues for the quarter below consensus estimates. Bearish speculators were also helped by the Street, as Wells Fargo, Baird, Cowen and Co., BMO Capital and UBS all lowered their price targets on STX, while Benchmark and Craig-Hallum downgraded the shares.

Wabtec Corp. (NYSE: WAB) short-sellers saw $205 million in mark-to-market profits, as management reported second quarter EPS and revenues below the Street's projections driven by lower freight sales, resulting in a 14.2% slide in the shares last week. According to Dusaniwsky, bears were only up $45 million in 2017 prior to the second quarter earnings release.

Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) shorts continue to see their bearish fundamental thesis playout, as the company failed to demonstrate positive MAU and DAU growth trends, despite reporting second quarter EPS and revenues above consensus. While analysts from Cowen and Co., RBC Capital and Stifel raised price targets, investors were not pleased and drove the shares lower for the week by 16.7%. Short-sellers were rewarded with nearly $200 million in mark-to-market gains, producing 17.29% returns for the week on an average position of $1.137 billion notional.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) shares fell 8.53%, a much needed reprieve for bears in the name, with company up over 100% during last 12 months. Some investors will point to profit taking following an earnings miss by Seagate Technology, while others reacted to the Wells Fargo analyst David Wong downgrade of the entire Semiconductor sector, suggesting global sales growth will peak into 2018 Short-sellers gained $145.8 million in mark-to-market gains last week on average short-interest position of $1.67 billion, according to S3 Partners.

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) reported robust subscriber growth in the U.S. and internationally, during the company's second quarter earnings report, achieving all-time high two weeks ago, before a pullback from highs last week. Short-sellers in the name have experienced tremendous pain building their bearish positions, with an average short-interest position of $4.89 billion notional, despite the shares up nearly 50% year-to-date. The slight 2.7% pullback in the shares last week, was indeed a welcome sign for bearish speculators, generating $116 million in mark-to-market profits.

Source: https://www.s3partners.net

You May Also Be Interested In