2024 European Short-Side P\L Recap
Author:
Ihor Dusaniwsky
Managing Director of Predictive Analytics, S3 Partners
European short sellers outperformed the market by being up $8.35 billion in mark-to-market profits, +4.76%, while the STX Europe 600 Index was up +5.98% and the broader MSCI Europe Index was up +5.75%. Short sellers were excellent stock pickers and were profitable along with European long shareholders. The best performing sectors were Consumer Staples, Utilities and Consumer Discretionary while the only down sector was the Financials. For comparison, European short sellers were down -$28.9 billion in mark-to-market losses, -16%, in 2023.
Sector
2024 Avg. Short Int.
YTD MTM P\L
P\L %
Communication Services
$11,665,099,273
$159,730,765
1.37%
Consumer Discretionary
$19,762,929,901
$2,607,099,427
13.19%
Consumer Staples
$15,314,985,980
$2,427,351,250
15.85%
Energy
$11,376,263,520
$1,309,498,486
11.51%
Financials
$26,602,442,261
($2,695,012,765)
-10.13%
Health Care
$16,006,827,235
$1,310,396,527
8.19%
Industrials
$34,524,928,938
($446,961,914)
-1.29%
Information Technology
$10,735,243,110
$632,334,151
5.89%
Materials
$16,522,216,934
$1,350,880,672
8.18%
Real Estate
$5,328,637,040
$577,102,209
10.83%
Utilities
$7,555,224,940
$1,119,484,969
14.82%
Grand Total
$175,394,799,133
$8,351,903,775
4.76%
The number of profitable versus unprofitable shorted stocks skewed slightly to the profitable side with 54.1% of all European shorted stocks earning positive returns versus 45.5% of all shorted stocks posting losses (0.4% of shorted stocks had no mark-to-market P\L). The profitability ratio when looking at the notional dollar size of short trades was similar to the number of stocks being profitable short trades. 55.3% of every dollar shorted was profitable versus 44.7% in the red (there was negligible amount of dollars shorted that had no P\L).
Looking at the top winners, in dollar terms, on the short side we see more than half of the top twenty-five in the Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary with no trades topping the $500 million mark. There were $97.0 billion of profitable short trades that were up $24.7 billion in mark-to-market profits, +25.5%.
2024 YTD MTM P\L
Ticker
Avg Short Interest
MTM P\L
P\L %
PERNOD-RICARD SA
RI FP
$904,623,197
$496,094,323
54.84%
NIBE INDUSTRIER AB B
NIBEB SS
$800,146,379
$446,630,068
55.82%
STELLANTIS NV
STLAM IM
$657,440,297
$446,519,696
67.92%
DAVIDE CAMPARIMILANO NV
CPR IM
$608,705,077
$423,785,616
69.62%
HM HENNES MAURITZ AB B
HMB SS
$1,434,673,543
$368,042,338
25.65%
SARTORIUS AG-VORZUG
SRT3 GR
$743,146,055
$356,986,038
48.04%
DR ING HC F PORSCHE AG
P911 GR
$749,261,750
$341,529,378
45.58%
ROCHE HLDG AG
ROG SW
$941,790,326
$332,249,299
35.28%
NESTLE SA
NESN SW
$1,040,332,379
$322,552,628
31.00%
KERING SA
KER FP
$532,635,671
$322,186,185
60.49%
VIVENDI SE
VIV FP
$113,575,129
$306,785,528
270.12%
KUEHNE NAGEL INTL AG
KNIN SW
$772,572,790
$280,070,551
36.25%
ALFEN NV
ALFEN NA
$152,404,113
$273,014,243
179.14%
MERCEDESBENZ GROUP AG
MBG GR
$1,021,440,295
$268,919,816
26.33%
EQUINOR ASA
EQNR NO
$1,032,281,557
$264,948,295
25.67%
NESTE OIL OYJ
NESTE FH
$269,436,462
$260,885,472
96.83%
OCADO GROUP PLC
OCDO LN
$277,677,619
$249,042,081
89.69%
VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS A/S
VWS DC
$326,005,632
$241,379,927
74.04%
CARREFOUR SA
CA FP
$998,111,752
$233,698,665
23.41%
UMICORE
UMI BB
$186,720,783
$223,210,813
119.54%
EVOLUTION AB
EVO SS
$449,846,019
$221,870,162
49.32%
EDENRED SA
EDEN FP
$343,690,889
$215,503,703
62.70%
LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON
MC FP
$779,373,869
$212,892,369
27.32%
ANHEUSERBUSCH INBEV SA/NV
ABI BB
$518,719,766
$198,952,549
38.35%
MEYER BURGER TECHNOLOGY AG
MBTN SW
$247,369,806
$197,866,793
79.99%
Looking at the top losers, in dollar terms, on the short side we see a mix of sectors with the Industrials and Financials sectors having the most stocks in the top-twenty-five and three trades with over $500 million of mark-to-market losses. There were $78.4 billion of unprofitable short trades that were down -$16.4 billion in mark-to-market losses, -20.9%.
2024 YTD MTM P\L
Ticker
Avg Short Interest
MTM P\L
P\L %
SIEMENS ENERGY AG
ENR GR
$810,110,845
($1,095,580,849)
-135.24%
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE GRP PLC
LSEG LN
$2,500,572,036
($567,947,783)
-22.71%
ALSTOM SA
ALO FP
$999,106,471
($562,083,185)
-56.26%
SAP SE
SAP GR
$978,050,414
($414,590,469)
-42.39%
RHEINMETALL AG
RHM GR
$553,686,273
($348,426,348)
-62.93%
UNICREDIT SPA
UCG IM
$1,080,538,617
($327,343,868)
-30.29%
INTESA SANPAOLO SPA
ISP IM
$1,399,196,581
($296,503,697)
-21.19%
BT GROUP PLC
BT/A LN
$1,662,073,274
($257,162,848)
-15.47%
DSV A/S
DSV DC
$1,347,787,800
($227,858,697)
-16.91%
ROLLS-ROYCE HLDGS
RR/ LN
$336,712,426
($191,351,672)
-56.83%
SMURFIT WESTROCK PLC UNLISTED
N.A.
$1,720,052,695
($190,973,965)
-11.10%
HARGREAVES LANSDOWN
HL/ LN
$300,852,917
($185,525,389)
-61.67%
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC SE
SU FP
$601,916,696
($178,518,047)
-29.66%
ARGENX SE
ARGX BB
$268,773,742
($175,659,899)
-65.36%
SMURFIT WESTROCK PLC
SWR LN
$1,237,068,037
($169,561,229)
-13.71%
ERICSSON LM B
ERICB SS
$648,556,738
($168,675,630)
-26.01%
FLUTTER ENTERTAINMENT PLC
FLTR LN
$534,402,254
($161,597,121)
-30.24%
DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG
DTE GR
$730,836,801
($158,837,940)
-21.73%
UCB SA
UCB BB
$190,502,875
($154,822,311)
-81.27%
BANCO BPM SPA
BAMI IM
$290,141,916
($147,541,002)
-50.85%
MORPHOSYS AG ACQUIRED
MOR GR
$325,413,440
($139,674,551)
-42.92%
CRH PLC
CRH LN
$464,041,548
($137,877,290)
-29.71%
SECURITAS AB B
SECUB SS
$576,066,847
($135,756,066)
-23.57%
DELIVERY HERO SE
DHER GR
$396,557,152
($135,714,944)
-34.22%
INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP PLC
IHG LN
$355,664,187
($133,919,787)
-37.65%
Looking at profitable versus unprofitable short trades in dollar terms skews to the larger cap stocks with larger short interest. But looking at P\L % gives us the best and worst stock picks on the short side.
The best short trades in percentage terms with over $25 million of average short interest were:
2024 YTD MTM P\L
Ticker
Avg Short Interest
MTM P\L
P\L %
VIVENDI SE
VIV FP
$113,575,129
$306,785,528
270.12%
ALFEN NV
ALFEN NA
$152,404,113
$273,014,243
179.14%
DOCMORRIS AG
DOCM SW
$122,068,136
$171,277,486
140.31%
INTRUM AB
INTRUM SS
$51,472,075
$69,555,049
135.13%
SMA SOLAR TECHNOLOGY AG
S92 GR
$57,638,663
$72,099,170
125.09%
UMICORE
UMI BB
$186,720,783
$223,210,813
119.54%
VERBIO AG
VBK GR
$51,035,007
$54,178,008
106.16%
KEMPOWER OYJ
KEMPOWR FH
$29,073,888
$30,699,132
105.59%
BETTER COLLECTIVE A/S
BETCO SS
$43,233,247
$45,108,103
104.34%
WATCHES OF SWITZERLAND GROUP PLC
WOSG LN
$52,153,501
$53,246,757
102.10%
NESTE OIL OYJ
NESTE FH
$269,436,462
$260,885,472
96.83%
AMS OSRAM AG
AMS SW
$50,182,025
$48,495,205
96.64%
AIXTRON SE
AIXA GR
$117,201,198
$110,305,186
94.12%
OCADO GROUP PLC
OCDO LN
$277,677,619
$249,042,081
89.69%
SSAB AB
SSABA SS
$27,146,488
$23,534,156
86.69%
CORP ACCIONA ENERGIAS RENOVABLES SA
ANE SM
$130,660,149
$109,924,062
84.13%
IMMOFINANZ AG
IIA AV
$39,499,494
$33,225,424
84.12%
EDP RENOVAVEIS SA
EDPR PL
$157,736,657
$132,001,148
83.68%
OCI NV
OCI NA
$145,887,932
$121,570,283
83.33%
NEL ASA
NEL NO
$146,419,419
$121,922,565
83.27%
S.O.I.T.E.C.
SOI FP
$237,464,388
$192,666,190
81.13%
SINCH AB
SINCH SS
$207,068,039
$166,856,663
80.58%
MEYER BURGER TECHNOLOGY AG
MBTN SW
$247,369,806
$197,866,793
79.99%
SILTRONIC AG
WAF GR
$119,241,846
$91,678,360
76.88%
SES
SESG FP
$77,870,713
$58,173,788
74.71%
The worst short trades in percentage terms with over $25 million of average short interest were:
2024 YTD MTM P\L
Ticker
Avg Short Interest
MTM P\L
P\L %
SIEMENS ENERGY AG
ENR GR
$810,110,845
($1,095,580,849)
-135.24%
AUTO1 GROUP SE
AG1 GR
$51,797,977
($52,316,922)
-101.00%
KEYWORDS STUDIOS PLC
N.A.
$42,945,408
($42,083,559)
-97.99%
NORTHERN DATA AG
NB2 GR
$33,109,714
($29,209,826)
-88.22%
CALLIDITAS THERAPEUTICS AB B ACQUIRED
CALTX SS
$42,138,713
($36,884,423)
-87.53%
UCB SA
UCB BB
$190,502,875
($154,822,311)
-81.27%
DARKTRACE PLC
DARK LN
$66,033,102
($48,458,353)
-73.38%
BANCA MONTE DEI PASCHI SIENA SPA
BMPS IM
$76,222,929
($52,112,055)
-68.37%
ARGENX SE
ARGX BB
$268,773,742
($175,659,899)
-65.36%
BARCLAYS PLC
BARC LN
$121,488,619
($77,766,524)
-64.01%
RHEINMETALL AG
RHM GR
$553,686,273
($348,426,348)
-62.93%
HARGREAVES LANSDOWN
HL/ LN
$300,852,917
($185,525,389)
-61.67%
NATWEST GROUP PLC
NWG LN
$213,996,822
($131,741,938)
-61.56%
L OCCITANE INTL SA ACQUIRED
N.A.
$25,514,520
($15,497,613)
-60.74%
INTERMEDIATE CAPITAL GROUP PLC
ICG LN
$33,578,931
($19,529,278)
-58.16%
ROLLS-ROYCE HLDGS
RR/ LN
$336,712,426
($191,351,672)
-56.83%
ALSTOM SA
ALO FP
$999,106,471
($562,083,185)
-56.26%
FIRST DERIVATIVES PLC
FDP LN
$25,313,863
($14,182,310)
-56.03%
INTL CONSOLIDATED AIRLINES GRP
IAG SM
$149,964,028
($82,180,023)
-54.80%
BPER BANCA SPA
BPE IM
$58,599,176
($31,808,201)
-54.28%
MTU AERO ENGINES
MTX GR
$191,509,069
($102,965,090)
-53.77%
MPC CONTAINER SHIPS AS
MPCC NO
$37,317,482
($20,043,216)
-53.71%
INTL CONSOLIDATED AIRLINES GRP
IAG LN
$164,089,573
($88,137,520)
-53.71%
ALKABELLO A/S
ALKB DC
$32,132,715
($17,065,699)
-53.11%
JUVENTUS FOOTBALL CLUB SPA
JUVE IM
$36,831,699
($18,762,844)
-50.94%
Traders were much more successful shorting European stocks, +4.8% YTD return, versus the U.S. market, -15.1% YTD return. While the average amount of short selling in the U.S was almost seven times larger than average European short interest ($1.20 trillion vs. $175 billion. European short sellers were not as active as their U.S. counterparts, but their trades added positive numbers to their bottom line.
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