Short Side Profits Disappear
Author:
Ihor Dusaniwsky,
Managing Director of Predictive Analytics
U.S. short sellers hopefully had their seat belts fastened as it has been a bumpy ride after President Trump’s Liberation Day tariff hikes. U.S. equity shorts are slightly down for the year, down -$16.7 billion in year-to-date mark-to-market losses, a -1.28% return on an average short interest of $1.3 trillion. But this has not been a steady ride, with the market indexes down -15% to -21% from January through April 8th but up +19% to +25% since April 8th. U.S. equity short sellers were up $234 million in 12/31/24 to 4/8/25 mark-to-market profits, +17.9%, but are down -$250 million in mark-to-market losses since, -19.5%.
Avg Short Interest
MTM P\L
P\L %
12/31 to 4/8 MTM P\L
$1,305,688,797,684
$233,648,208,070
17.89%
4/8 to 5/20 MTM P\L
$1,284,824,064,705
-$250,364,880,334
-19.49%
U.S. YTD MTM P\L
$1,302,073,050,222
-$16,716,672,264
-1.28%
Shorting U.S. stocks has been a relative coin flip this year with 55% of every dollar shorted being an unprofitable trade and 48% of all stocks shorted being unprofitable. The average gain on profitable shorts is +15.6% while the average loss on unprofitable shorts is -15.8%.
The most profitable short positions for the year are:
US Equity YTD MTM P\L
Ticker
Avg Short Int
MTM P\L
P\L%
1
APPLE INC
AAPL
$27,753,808,590
$6,030,439,260
21.73%
2
TESLA INC
TSLA
$22,298,760,675
$2,311,806,234
10.37%
3
UNITEDHEALTH GRP
UNH
$4,534,485,578
$1,788,488,422
39.44%
4
ALPHABET INC A
GOOGL
$11,494,597,865
$1,616,543,461
14.06%
5
MARVELL TECHNOLOGY INC
MRVL
$1,872,725,129
$1,128,840,278
60.28%
6
ALPHABET INC C
GOOG
$7,270,634,364
$1,038,886,294
14.29%
7
AMAZON.COM INC
AMZN
$15,213,203,125
$1,028,213,778
6.76%
8
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT INC
APO
$4,941,189,052
$969,491,935
19.62%
9
SOUNDHOUND AI INC
SOUN
$1,224,496,565
$926,431,258
75.66%
10
REDDIT INC
RDDT
$2,531,819,096
$803,685,481
31.74%
11
MERCK & CO
MRK
$3,199,230,168
$724,354,645
22.64%
12
ON SEMICONDUCTOR
ON
$1,342,645,430
$586,235,804
43.66%
13
MODERNA INC
MRNA
$1,525,003,308
$577,958,413
37.90%
14
VAXCYTE INC
PCVX
$828,491,533
$539,922,356
65.17%
15
NIKE INC B
NKE
$2,605,060,736
$521,412,065
20.02%
16
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES
AMD
$5,443,736,431
$478,088,052
8.78%
17
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE B
UPS
$1,682,695,423
$476,022,920
28.29%
18
THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC
TMO
$2,053,435,049
$474,220,595
23.09%
19
CHEVRON CORP
CVX
$9,305,316,982
$470,214,122
5.05%
20
NEW FORTRESS ENERGY LLC
NFE
$371,287,047
$460,761,997
124.10%
And the least profitable short positions for the year are:
US Equity YTD MTM P\L
Ticker
Avg Short Int
MTM P\L
P\L%
1
MICROSTRATEGY INC
MSTR
$8,737,334,339
($3,573,734,613)
-40.90%
2
PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC
PLTR
$6,080,555,298
($2,943,531,974)
-48.41%
3
HIMS HERS HEALTH INC
HIMS
$2,120,831,832
($2,331,228,565)
-109.92%
4
NETFLIX INC
NFLX
$7,406,923,256
($2,294,553,194)
-30.98%
5
ALIBABA GROUP ADR
BABA
$5,385,357,029
($1,993,133,462)
-37.01%
6
META PLATFORMS INC
META
$16,905,473,011
($1,933,375,199)
-11.44%
7
UBER TECHNOLOGIES INC
UBER
$4,240,389,464
($1,787,709,248)
-42.16%
8
SPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY SA
SPOT
$3,906,787,863
($1,426,919,084)
-36.52%
9
MICROSOFT CORP
MSFT
$23,178,785,941
($1,370,980,751)
-5.91%
10
VISA INC
V
$9,024,067,086
($1,278,250,791)
-14.16%
11
SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC
SMCI
$3,753,875,649
($1,147,523,330)
-30.57%
12
IBM CORP
IBM
$4,800,821,255
($992,401,126)
-20.67%
13
SEA LTD ADR
SE
$2,169,817,480
($945,711,848)
-43.58%
14
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS INC
CHTR
$4,281,278,774
($926,203,643)
-21.63%
15
CROWDSTRIKE HOLDINGS INC
CRWD
$3,514,622,588
($896,678,353)
-25.51%
16
CARVANA CO
CVNA
$2,156,641,810
($869,608,204)
-40.32%
17
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY B
BRK/B
$7,505,502,787
($862,592,101)
-11.49%
18
GENERAL ELECTRIC CO
GE
$2,522,848,209
($811,865,847)
-32.18%
19
GE VERNOVA INC
GEV
$1,762,303,874
($796,232,975)
-45.18%
20
JPMORGAN CHASE CO
JPM
$7,013,464,382
($769,996,489)
-10.98%
Total US Equity YTD MTM P\L
10877
$1,302,073,050,222
($16,716,672,264)
-1.28%
Shorts felt like Marie Antoinette after Bastille Day when looking at their post-Liberation Day profit & loss statements. Shorts were down -$257 billion in mark-to-market losses, -21.1%. Three out of every four short positions were unprofitable and short sellers were crowded into these trades with 95% of every dollar shorted on the losing side.
The most profitable short positions between 4/8 and 5/20 were full of Health Care sector stocks:
US Equity 4/8 to 5/20 MTM P\L
Ticker
Avg Short Int
MTM P\L
P\L%
1
UNITEDHEALTH GRP
UNH
$4,649,102,645
$2,365,639,719
50.88%
2
FISERV INC
FI
$1,562,067,703
$202,552,678
12.97%
3
PEPSICO INC
PEP
$2,802,888,593
$174,777,861
6.24%
4
BRISTOLMYERS SQUIBB CO
BMY
$1,602,531,187
$145,296,684
9.07%
5
VERTEX PHARMA
VRTX
$1,983,713,351
$118,113,854
5.95%
6
NEW FORTRESS ENERGY LLC
NFE
$265,327,097
$116,757,869
44.01%
7
LANTHEUS HOLDINGS INC
LNTH
$656,665,438
$115,168,678
17.54%
8
SWEETGREEN INC
SG
$318,737,516
$86,958,571
27.28%
9
BECTON DICKINSON CO
BDX
$769,216,877
$80,529,645
10.47%
10
AMGEN INC
AMGN
$4,051,747,266
$76,439,953
1.89%
11
HUMANA INC
HUM
$833,169,192
$74,909,599
8.99%
12
PLUG POWER INC
PLUG
$234,127,829
$73,205,913
31.27%
13
CARMAX INC
KMX
$746,578,546
$71,708,093
9.60%
14
CVS HEALTH CORP
CVS
$1,176,869,080
$69,848,834
5.94%
15
CABLE ONE INC
CABO
$204,115,752
$66,793,504
32.72%
16
SAIA INC
SAIA
$486,769,590
$65,293,136
13.41%
17
IOVANCE BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC
IOVA
$207,819,693
$65,061,767
31.31%
18
KRYSTAL BIOTECH INC
KRYS
$374,710,863
$62,427,969
16.66%
19
SAREPTA THERAPEUTICS
SRPT
$339,990,053
$58,503,874
17.21%
20
GENEDX HOLDINGS CORP
WGS
$283,633,992
$55,646,237
19.62%
While the least profitable short positions between 4/8 and 5/20 were full of mostly Mag 7 and Tech and Banking sector stocks:
US Equity 4/8 to 5/20 MTM P\L
Ticker
Avg Short Int
MTM P\L
P\L%
1
TESLA INC
TSLA
$22,446,674,935
($9,743,365,587)
-43.41%
2
NVIDIA CORP
NVDA
$29,536,972,910
($9,658,741,922)
-32.70%
3
MICROSOFT CORP
MSFT
$20,497,037,053
($5,119,302,871)
-24.98%
4
MICROSTRATEGY INC
MSTR
$10,258,158,201
($5,092,302,217)
-49.64%
5
META PLATFORMS INC
META
$17,758,752,723
($3,908,119,398)
-22.01%
6
BROADCOM INC
AVGO
$10,145,389,952
($3,887,218,902)
-38.32%
7
APPLE INC
AAPL
$22,649,404,092
($3,778,126,714)
-16.68%
8
NETFLIX INC
NFLX
$8,833,433,710
($2,617,902,944)
-29.64%
9
PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC
PLTR
$5,964,107,462
($2,580,907,884)
-43.27%
10
AMAZON.COM INC
AMZN
$13,281,275,409
($2,268,577,625)
-17.08%
11
HIMS HERS HEALTH INC
HIMS
$2,540,624,017
($2,230,536,548)
-87.79%
12
TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR ADR
TSM
$5,898,566,569
($1,769,526,644)
-30.00%
13
VISA INC
V
$9,029,186,596
($1,567,501,956)
-17.36%
14
ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES
AMD
$4,330,919,075
($1,548,114,535)
-35.75%
15
UBER TECHNOLOGIES INC
UBER
$4,451,449,885
($1,478,737,932)
-33.22%
16
ALPHABET INC A
GOOGL
$10,790,343,271
($1,336,355,221)
-12.38%
17
JPMORGAN CHASE CO
JPM
$6,722,547,071
($1,325,445,475)
-19.72%
18
APPLOVIN CORP
APP
$3,072,254,032
($1,323,810,727)
-43.09%
19
SERVICENOW INC
NOW
$3,836,195,131
($1,213,123,005)
-31.62%
20
SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC
SMCI
$3,814,277,265
($1,202,882,830)
-31.54%
Total US Equity 4/8 to 5/20 MTM P\L
$1,284,824,064,705
($250,364,880,334)
-19.49%
Short sellers may have taken a Mike Tyson body blow since Liberation Day, but they are still on their feet and waiting to answer the bell for the next round. Short sellers backed up their positions into this rally with $18 billion of increased short selling from 4/8 to 5/20 and $13 billion of new short selling in May. Shorts are not capitulating and are at minimum looking for a slight pullback from this sharp rally or a return to pre-tariff March levels.
Identify stock characteristics and minimize risk by using the S3 long side MAP and Disclosure products in tandem with the S3 short side Black App.Our Blacklight SaaS platform and Black App provides an up-to-date view of short selling and short covering on an equity, sector, index, or country-wide basis allowing investors\traders to better manage their existing long and short positions. The Black MaP and Black App products provide a total view of long and short positioning in the market with a breakdown between Active\Passive long investors, 24 Fund type entities, over 50k securities globally across 108 countries and data from 58 regulatory exchanges.
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The information herein (some of which has been obtained from third party sources without verification) is believed by S3 Partners, LLC (“S3 Partners”) to be reliable and accurate. Neither S3 Partners nor any of its affiliates makes any representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the information herein or accepts liability arising from its use. Prior to making any decisions based on the information herein, you should determine, without reliance upon S3 Partners, the economic risks, and merits, as well as the legal, tax, accounting, and investment consequences, of such decisions.
