BF/B Looks Crowded, the Company Isn’t

Author:

Leon Gross, Director

August 11, 2025

Combining both share classes reveals true short crowding and squeeze risk.

BF/B (Brown-Forman Class B) looks crowded, with a Short Squeeze Score above 70 and a short interest as a percent of float exceeding 10%. However, Brown-Forman also has Class A shares, which represent an equal economic interest in the company.

There are twice as many Class B shares as Class A shares. The B shares are included in the S&P 500 so they trade higher, while the A shares carry voting rights. Theoretically, the voting rights should make Class A shares more valuable than Class B, but in practice Class B trades at a premium.

This creates an arbitrage opportunity, where investors short the higher-priced Class B shares and go long the undervalued Class A shares.

When we combine Class A and B shares, the Short Squeeze Score drops to 55, short interest falls below 8%, and Crowded Score declines to just 40.

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So, although Class B shares appear crowded, the combined short interest profile across both share classes is relatively moderate. When the Class A Squeeze Score spikes, the combined score can exceed 60, but at present, it remains subdued.

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The current spread is 1.7%.


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