Biotech Sector Short Recap

Author:

Ihor Dusaniwsky

Managing Director of Predictive Analytics, S3 Partners

May 20, 2024

The Biotech sector is the fourth most shorted Industry behind Semiconductor, Software and Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels. Total short interest is $53.29 billion. The average SI % Float is 10.47% which is more than double the U.S. average of 4.83%.

Biotech Short Interest

Ticker

SI % Float

Fee

Short Interest

AMGEN INC

AMGN

1.79%

0.30%

$3,049,415,726

MODERNA INC

MRNA

6.16%

0.30%

$2,677,931,555

ABBVIE INC

ABBV

0.82%

0.30%

$2,381,066,010

VERTEX PHARMA

VRTX

1.58%

0.30%

$1,784,922,324

GILEAD SCIENCES INC

GILD

1.77%

0.30%

$1,477,441,631

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS

REGN

1.26%

0.30%

$1,311,790,175

UNITED THERAPEUTICS

UTHR

9.39%

0.30%

$1,046,824,536

VIKING THERAPEUTICS INC

VKTX

12.49%

0.30%

$987,476,002

MADRIGAL PHARMA

MDGL

22.96%

0.30%

$858,020,532

CRISPR THERAPEUTICS AG

CRSP

18.02%

0.57%

$823,740,154

CYTOKINETICS INC

CYTK

13.25%

0.30%

$812,874,695

BIOGEN INC

BIIB

2.16%

0.30%

$732,829,226

SAREPTA THERAPEUTICS

SRPT

6.02%

0.30%

$709,832,548

NATERA INC

NTRA

5.52%

0.30%

$681,421,991

TG THERAPEUTICS

TGTX

26.39%

0.30%

$653,648,206

LEGEND BIOTECH CORP ADR

LEGN

7.20%

0.30%

$594,751,919

VAXCYTE INC

PCVX

8.03%

0.30%

$594,182,748

NOVAVAX INC

NVAX

34.02%

11.82%

$585,389,552

TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP

TWST

21.09%

0.30%

$567,988,504

ARGENX SE ADR

ARGX

2.53%

0.30%

$562,850,040

Total Biotech Short Interest

10.47%

1.10%

$53,290,657,074

Over the last thirty days we have seen short interest in the Biotech sector increase by $4.27 billion, or 8.7%. The largest increase in short interest occurred in Moderna Inc (MRNA), Novavax Inc (NVAX) and Amgen Inc (AMGN) while the largest decrease in short interest was in Cytokinetics Inc (CYTK) and Exact Sciences Corp (EXAS).

The Biotech stocks with the largest increase in short interest are:

Biotech Short Interest

Ticker

SI % Float

Fee

Short Interest

30D Change Short Interest

MODERNA INC

MRNA

6.16%

0.30%

$2,677,931,555

$498,826,097

NOVAVAX INC

NVAX

34.02%

11.82%

$585,389,552

$405,058,586

AMGEN INC

AMGN

1.79%

0.30%

$3,049,415,726

$365,024,132

VIKING THERAPEUTICS INC

VKTX

12.49%

0.30%

$987,476,002

$241,129,118

TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP

TWST

21.09%

0.30%

$567,988,504

$209,676,603

ABBVIE INC

ABBV

0.82%

0.30%

$2,381,066,010

$192,687,956

VERTEX PHARMA

VRTX

1.58%

0.30%

$1,784,922,324

$183,865,902

NATERA INC

NTRA

5.52%

0.30%

$681,421,991

$161,032,376

IMMUNITYBIO INC

IBRX

39.09%

24.57%

$444,923,917

$157,570,674

TG THERAPEUTICS

TGTX

26.39%

0.30%

$653,648,206

$151,188,273

The Biotech stocks with the largest decrease in short interest are:

Biotech Short Interest

Ticker

SI % Float

Fee

Short Interest

30D Change Short Interest

CYTOKINETICS INC

CYTK

13.25%

0.30%

$812,874,695

($142,011,497)

EXACT SCIENCES CORP

EXAS

5.30%

0.30%

$515,803,647

($130,640,056)

MACROGENICS INC

MGNX

18.13%

0.30%

$50,036,916

($95,632,092)

ASCENDIS PHARMA ADR

ASND

6.39%

0.30%

$451,494,103

($71,356,117)

AMICUS THERAPEUTICS

FOLD

9.99%

0.30%

$277,828,100

($56,013,050)

IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC

IOVA

22.36%

0.30%

$528,159,189

($54,165,867)

CEREVEL THERAPEUTICS HOLDING

CERE

7.50%

0.30%

$276,952,954

($53,471,049)

IONIS PHARMA

IONS

6.53%

0.30%

$343,463,363

($52,689,544)

SAGE THERAPEUTICS INC

SAGE

16.41%

0.30%

$95,091,618

($47,547,249)

BIOHAVEN LTD

BHVN

12.46%

0.30%

$351,798,100

($47,299,812)

Total Biotech Short Interest

10.47%

1.10%

$53,290,657,074

$4,275,424,570

Changes in short interest consist of shares shorted & covered as well as the mark-to-market change in the value of shares already shorted. Over the last thirty days in the Biotech sector, we’ve seen the $1.09 billion of net short selling coupled with a $3.19 billion mark-to-market increase in the value of shares shorted. Shorts were actively shorting into a rising market looking for a retracement in the sector.

The Biotech stocks with the largest increase in short selling are:

Biotech Short Interest

Ticker

SI % Float

Short Interest

30D Change Short Interest

30D Change Shares Shorted

ABBVIE INC

ABBV

0.82%

$2,381,066,010

$192,687,956

$163,991,462

MADRIGAL PHARMA

MDGL

22.96%

$858,020,532

$69,918,783

$136,817,174

VIKING THERAPEUTICS INC

VKTX

12.49%

$987,476,002

$241,129,118

$117,834,105

LEGEND BIOTECH CORP ADR

LEGN

7.20%

$594,751,919

$26,805,993

$92,156,567

SAREPTA THERAPEUTICS

SRPT

6.02%

$709,832,548

$133,153,524

$63,987,033

NATERA INC

NTRA

5.52%

$681,421,991

$161,032,376

$63,826,164

ARGENX SE ADR

ARGX

2.53%

$562,850,040

$62,603,716

$61,672,918

INCYTE CORP

INCY

4.19%

$530,375,781

$88,738,896

$58,817,010

APELLIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC

APLS

12.13%

$505,681,999

($43,782,470)

$58,428,557

GILEAD SCIENCES INC

GILD

1.77%

$1,477,441,631

$42,352,324

$58,027,041

The Biotech stocks with the largest increase in short selling are:

Biotech Short Interest

Ticker

SI % Float

Short Interest

30D Change Short Interest

30D Change Shares Shorted

AMGEN INC

AMGN

1.79%

$3,049,415,726

$365,024,132

($176,181,545)

UNITED THERAPEUTICS

UTHR

9.39%

$1,046,824,536

$31,371,558

($131,088,900)

CEREVEL THERAPEUTICS HLDNG

CERE

7.50%

$276,952,954

($53,471,049)

($58,304,619)

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS

REGN

1.26%

$1,311,790,175

$65,349,076

($45,138,522)

ALPINE IMMUNE SCIENCES INC

ALPN

8.74%

$263,145,026

($42,339,703)

($44,947,870)

CYTOKINETICS INC

CYTK

13.25%

$812,874,695

($142,011,497)

($36,693,190)

BIOGEN INC

BIIB

2.16%

$732,829,226

$90,412,034

($35,329,533)

ROCKET PHARMACEUTICALS INC

RCKT

11.41%

$227,352,723

($36,858,479)

($33,007,025)

IONIS PHARMA

IONS

6.53%

$343,463,363

($52,689,544)

($30,379,163)

MODERNA INC

MRNA

6.16%

$2,677,931,555

$498,826,097

($29,899,717)

Total Biotech Short Interest

10.47%

$53,290,657,074

$4,275,424,570

$1,089,775,428

Biotech shorts are down -$2.19 billion in year-to-date mark-to-market losses, down -4.3% for the year. The most profitable shorts in are:

Biotech YTD MTM P\L

Ticker

Short Interest

YTD MTM P\L

P\L %

CYTOKINETICS INC

CYTK

$1,028,390,676

$310,592,106

30.20%

GILEAD SCIENCES INC

GILD

$1,429,600,484

$264,357,608

18.49%

EXACT SCIENCES CORP

EXAS

$487,324,599

$194,612,654

39.93%

APELLIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC

APLS

$645,063,675

$186,894,790

28.97%

ALNYLAM PHARMA

ALNY

$544,659,867

$168,189,411

30.88%

ACADIA PHARMA

ACAD

$216,120,813

$158,172,426

73.19%

LEGEND BIOTECH CORP ADR

LEGN

$594,339,793

$155,182,652

26.11%

BRIDGEBIO PHARMA INC

BBIO

$473,400,734

$146,316,406

30.91%

MOONLAKE IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS

MLTX

$353,685,001

$137,673,148

38.93%

AMICUS THERAPEUTICS

FOLD

$343,841,755

$134,000,558

38.97%

The least profitable shorts are:

Biotech YTD MTM P\L

Ticker

Short Interest

YTD MTM P\L

P\L %

VIKING THERAPEUTICS INC

VKTX

$619,149,587

($733,872,295)

-118.53%

MODERNA INC

MRNA

$2,287,542,454

($661,565,282)

-28.92%

NOVAVAX INC

NVAX

$234,166,719

($370,811,474)

-158.35%

NATERA INC

NTRA

$570,365,425

($331,069,748)

-58.05%

AMGEN INC

AMGN

$2,911,142,603

($259,302,142)

-8.91%

IMMUNITYBIO INC

IBRX

$267,166,563

($219,086,837)

-82.00%

ALPINE IMMUNE SCIENCES INC

ALPN

$168,525,251

($207,044,794)

-122.86%

SAREPTA THERAPEUTICS

SRPT

$625,888,283

($188,710,003)

-30.15%

AVIDITY BIOSCIENCES INC

RNA

$178,082,792

($181,608,698)

-101.98%

VERA THERAPEUTICS INC

VERA

$242,889,653

($174,896,481)

-72.01%

Total YTD MTM P\L

$50,562,266,148

($2,194,373,519)

-4.34%

When breaking down short selling by market cap we see an interesting anomaly that the least profitable shorted stocks had the largest market caps and only slice of short selling that was profitable were the Micro\Nano market cap stocks. This may imply that the larger market cap stocks with the larger amount of indexing and passive shareholders held their value more than the smallest cap stocks that have minimal index exposure.

Biotech YTD MTM P\L

Tickers

Short Interest

YTD MTM P\L

P\L %

Mega + Large

19

$17,115,967,178

($1,306,039,165)

-7.63%

Mid

73

$22,142,189,698

($1,101,961,881)

-4.98%

Small

175

$9,992,735,983

($33,112,518)

-0.33%

Micro + Nano

754

$1,311,373,289

$246,740,045

18.82%

Total YTD MTM P\L

1,021

$50,562,266,148

($2,194,373,519)

-4.34%

Recently shorting Biotech stocks has been a very unprofitable trade with short sellers down $4.05 billion in May month-to-date mark-to-market losses, down -7.8%. The most profitable biotech shorts in May are:

Biotech May MTM P\L

Ticker

Short Interest

May MTM P\L

P\L %

MACROGENICS INC

MGNX

$112,548,297

$102,819,659

91.36%

EXACT SCIENCES CORP

EXAS

$531,932,454

$53,841,096

10.12%

IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC

IOVA

$614,588,581

$53,743,557

8.74%

ASCENDIS PHARMA ADR

ASND

$496,239,925

$52,365,471

10.55%

JANUX THERAPEUTICS INC

JANX

$192,592,665

$33,020,848

17.15%

CG OCOLOGY INC

CGON

$81,980,993

$29,685,977

36.21%

APELLIS PHARMACEUTICALS INC

APLS

$552,631,994

$25,996,550

4.70%

IRONWOOD PHARMA

IRWD

$148,823,396

$22,776,260

15.30%

EXELIXIS INC

EXEL

$204,458,497

$21,869,888

10.70%

ACADIA PHARMA

ACAD

$193,384,174

$18,951,919

9.80%

The least profitable biotech shorts in May are:

Biotech May MTM P\L

Ticker

Short Interest

May MTM P\L

P\L %

RECURSION PHARMACEUTICALS

RXRX

$363,718,873

($89,964,933)

-24.73%

VAXCYTE INC

PCVX

$546,231,804

($91,628,985)

-16.77%

REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS

REGN

$1,486,866,907

($135,033,762)

-9.08%

UNITED THERAPEUTICS

UTHR

$1,013,652,797

($145,178,866)

-14.32%

TG THERAPEUTICS

TGTX

$617,247,488

($152,201,810)

-24.66%

VERTEX PHARMA

VRTX

$1,664,319,519

($178,293,013)

-10.71%

TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP

TWST

$487,013,683

($200,453,188)

-41.16%

NOVAVAX INC

NVAX

$313,671,723

($378,667,129)

-120.72%

MODERNA INC

MRNA

$2,526,685,867

($389,152,428)

-15.40%

AMGEN INC

AMGN

$3,029,746,061

($436,467,221)

-14.41%

Total May MTM P\L

$52,205,592,906

($4,050,598,950)

-7.76%

The Biotech sector is crowded on the short side relative to the entire U.S. market. The sector

has an average Crowded score of 47.3 versus the U.S. average of 32.7. It is a popular sector to short because of its volatility and due to the amount of smaller cap securities that are shorted relative to larger cap securities, the stocks tend to get crowded quicker. The most Crowded stocks in the sector are:

Biotech Crowded Score

Ticker

Short Interest

Crowded Score

BIOMEA FUSION INC

BMEA

$ 182,522,999

95.00

IMMUNITYBIO INC

IBRX

$ 444,923,917

90.00

IGM BIOSCIENCES INC

IGMS

$ 59,943,254

87.50

NOVAVAX INC

NVAX

$ 585,389,552

85.00

ANAVEX LIFE SCIENCES CORP

AVXL

$ 94,785,061

85.00

TG THERAPEUTICS

TGTX

$ 653,648,206

80.00

ZENTALIS PHARMA

ZNTL

$ 209,285,423

80.00

SUMMIT THERAPEUTICS INC

SMMT

$ 104,144,609

80.00

And with sector in general being an unprofitable short we should see a good number of Squeezable securities in the sector. The most Squeezable securities are:

Biotech Squeeze Score

Ticker

Short Interest

Squeeze Score

NOVAVAX INC

NVAX

$ 585,389,552

100.00

TWIST BIOSCIENCE CORP

TWST

$ 567,988,504

100.00

IMMUNITYBIO INC

IBRX

$ 444,923,917

100.00

RECURSION PHARMACEUTICALS

RXRX

$ 412,489,213

100.00

BIOCRYST PHARMA

BCRX

$ 216,917,483

100.00

ALTIMMUNE INC

ALT

$ 190,940,234

100.00

BIOMEA FUSION INC

BMEA

$ 182,522,999

100.00

ANAVEX LIFE SCIENCES CORP

AVXL

$ 94,785,061

100.00

CAREDX INC

CDNA

$ 78,330,694

100.00

PRIME MEDICINE INC

PRME

$ 70,663,772

100.00

DYNE THERAPEUTICS INC

DYN

$ 291,582,159

97.50

STOKE THERAPEUTICS INC

STOK

$ 121,035,239

97.50

OCUGEN INC

OCGN

$ 95,972,979

95.00

TG THERAPEUTICS

TGTX

$ 653,648,206

90.00

AVIDITY BIOSCIENCES INC

RNA

$ 336,585,077

90.00

AVID BIOSERVICES INC

CDMO

$ 101,116,914

87.50

IGM BIOSCIENCES INC

IGMS

$ 59,943,254

87.50

ARCUTIS BIOTHERAPEUTICS

ARQT

$ 199,396,355

82.50

EDITAS MEDICINE INC

EDIT

$ 119,036,089

82.50

ARCUS BIOSCIENCES INC

RCUS

$ 135,405,023

80.00

The Biotech industry is the fourth most shorted industry in the U.S.

Industry

SI % Float

Short Interest

Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment

2.74%

$91,100,572,352

Software

5.33%

$82,771,376,368

Oil Gas & Consumable Fuels

4.54%

$82,357,284,207

Biotechnology

10.47%

$53,290,657,078

Banks

2.65%

$48,481,752,767

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