As many of Tesla’s short-sellers have faded away in recent months, another technology company has taken the throne as the tactic’s new most common target.
Apple has overtaken Tesla to become the most-shorted stock in the U.S., after the automaker held that spot for 864 days, as Business Insider reports.
Short interest in Tesla currently amounts to $17.4 billion, compared to Apple’s new high of $18.4 billion.
The news, discovered in a new report from firm S3 Partners aptly titled “Apple is the New #1 Short,” took place after roughly 113 million shares of the tech company were sold short on Wednesday representing about 0.7 percent of the company’s stock.
Apple Car Project Might Seek Canoo’s Engineering Talent, But Not Tech: Report https://t.co/9V99AJ1kQf
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) May 15, 2022
Similarly, 57 million Tesla shares were sold short, representing about 2.2 percent of the automaker’s current float.
Tesla’s short-sellers have been extremely volatile since 2020, ranging from as low as $6.5 billion to as high as $51 billion.
Short interest accounts for the amount of dollars that have been bet against a company’s stock, showing investor beliefs that the price of the stock is overvalued and will fall. The move can also show wider short-selling across the market or portfolio hedging.
Those who are short-selling Apple are effectively making a bet against Warren Buffett, since his firm Berkshire Hathaway owns a 5.6 percent stake in Apple.
