Author:
Leon Gross, Director of Research
Fox Corporation has two classes of shares. The number of shares outstanding are similar, and Class B (FOX) carries the voting rights. Class A (FOXA) is non-voting and makes up the larger, more liquid float.
Similar share counts, different floats — FOXA 177MM (59%) vs. voting FOX/B 122MM. FOXA trades 12% higher and is far more liquid; both are in the S&P 500.
Shorts are concentrated in FOXA, 48MM (27% of float) vs. FOX/B 11MM (9%). Combined 20% of float: squeeze score 76. Rising since the June selloff.
The A/B short situation and spread should persist absent a significant corporate transaction. Active long exposure stays high, so not a battleground.
Bearish sentiment is driven by continued cord-cutting, declining television advertising revenue, and the ongoing shift away from traditional cable networks.
Investor short positioning has increased due to market concerns surrounding large transactions, debt levels, and the execution risks of shifting media integration models.
The floats, however, are different. Class B (FOX) has the smaller float at 122MM, with FOXA the higher at 177MM, so 59% of the combined float is the A.
FOXA trades at a 12% higher price than Class B. Both classes are in the S&P 500 and are index-weighted together, so index membership alone does not explain the premium. The premium value of FOXA may be the reason investors favor short positions in the A shares.
FOXA is much more liquid, turning over 2.69% of its float per day against 1.01% for Class B, and accounting for 79% of combined volume.
FOXA is much more shorted in both percent and shares: 48MM versus 11MM. That is 27% of the Class A float against 9% for Class B, or 24% versus 5% measured against shares outstanding.
Adding the floats together gives 299MM, and combined short shares of 59MM, or 20% — a very crowded number. There are no convertible securities to explain this short positioning.
With squeeze scores of 93 and 52, the combined score is around 76. Days to cover are close to identical at 10.1 for FOXA and 8.9 for Class B, so the score spread rests on short interest as a percentage of float rather than on difficulty of covering.
Long ownership remains substantially larger than the short base, so this is not a classic battleground stock.
One explanation for the short positioning is that arbitrage investors are shorting FOXA, the higher-priced share class, while purchasing Class B shares as a hedge.
Another explanation is that short sellers prefer the more liquid share class despite its higher price because borrowing shares and entering positions are easier in FOXA.
The FOXA shorts have increased since the selloff, causing the squeeze score and crowded score to rise for the A's and the combined company. This pattern suggests momentum-driven trading followed by reversal-oriented short selling as the stock strengthened.
Unless someone buys Fox Corporation or there are other transactions, this A/B spread should persist and move with the stock and other news.
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