Investors increasingly bet a wide swath of stocks ranging from plant-based food producer Beyond Meat to artificial intelligence-powered lender Upstart would see their share prices fall, FactSet data shows. Short interest in Beyond Meat rose almost 30% to about 25 million shares between April 28 and May 15, according to the data. That’s equivalent to about 43% of the stock’s free float of shares, which is a term used to describe the amount of a company’s stock available for trading. Beyond Meat has already dropped roughly 12% this year, extending losses after plummeting more than 80% in 2022 and nearly 50% in 2021. Barclays analyst Terence Malone said in a note to clients this month the stock was among the firm’s underweight names with the most exposure to a cyclical downturn. Short interest similarly climbed even more for software firm Cvent , with investors increasing shorts just over 33% to nearly nine million shares. That’s almost 40% of the stock’s float. Cvent has rallied nearly 60% in 2023. Earlier this month, the company reported better-than-expected revenue for the first quarter, posting $166.2 million against a consensus estimate of $162.4 million from analysts polled by FactSet. CVT YTD mountain Cvent shares are up sharply in 2023 Despite a nearly 80% rally in AI consumer lender Upstart this month, it’s also increasingly a target for short sellers. Short interest grew almost 10% to nearly 25 million shares, now accounting for 36.5% of float. Recently, the company posted a narrower loss per share than analysts anticipated, while beating expectations on revenue and providing strong current-quarter guidance. Despite those results and the company’s ties to the AI trend, the stock has a sell rating from the majority of analysts who cover it, according to Refinitiv. “We like the potential of UPST’s AI lending platform, but our long-term bullishness is offset by near-term headwinds including slowing originations, waning investor demand for sub-prime unsecured consumer credit, and elevated losses on held loans,” JPMorgan analyst Reginald Smith said in a note to clients last month when initiating coverage of the stock at underweight. CNBC Pro screened the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq for the most shorted stocks with market caps of at least $100 million. The table shows all names with short interest accounting for more than 25% of float.
