Travel Industry Stocks Stand Out Among the Most Shorted in September, Finds Hazeltree Shortside Crowdedness Report

Hazeltree, a leader in active treasury and intelligent operations technology for the alternative asset industry, today published its Shortside Crowdedness Report for September. The report is a monthly listing of the top 10 shorted securities in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions in the large-, mid-, and small-cap ranges.

The data contained in the report comes from Hazeltree's proprietary securities finance platform data, which tracks approximately 12,000 global equities across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. The data is aggregated and anonymized from the contributing Hazeltree community, which includes approximately 700 asset manager funds.

During the month of September, the travel sector stood out globally with several stocks among the 10 most shorted in their categories based on their Hazeltree crowdedness score. In the Americas, this included Airbnb (82) and Carnival Co (77) in the large-cap category, Norwegian Cruise Lines (86) and American Airlines (79) in the mid-cap section, and Pebblebrook Hotel (94) in the small-cap group. In the EMEA mid-cap category, this included International Consolidated Airlines Group (69) and Deutsche Lufthansa (69).

Other highlights from the September 2023 report include:

Americas

• In the large-cap category, Tesla was the most crowded security (99). This was Tesla's fourth consecutive month as the top shorted security in this category. Ford Motor Co. and Rivian Automotive were also among the top ten shorted stocks in this category, at 79 and 72, respectively. Rivian Automotive also had the highest institutional supply utilization at 28.26%.
• In the mid-cap category, SOFI Technologies was the most crowded security (99). Bloom Energy had the highest institutional supply utilization (44.88%).
• In the small-cap category, Sunnova Energy was the most crowded security for the second consecutive month, with a score of 99. Also notable, Bowlero made its way into the Shortside Report series with the highest institutional supply utilization (100%) and highest community borrow fee (3.53%).

EMEA

• In the large-cap category, LVMH was the most crowded security, with a score of 99. Global transport and logistics company, Kuehne & Nagel Intl had the highest institutional supply utilization at 14.78%.
• In the mid-cap category, Alstom SA was the most crowded security, with a score of 99. Also notable was another new entrant to the Shortside Report series, Telecom Italia, which had the highest institutional supply utilization (38.64%).
• In the small-cap category, NEL ASA was the most crowded security (99) for the second consecutive month. Mayer Burger, the second most crowded security with a score of 86, led in institutional supply utilization (78.24%).

APAC

• In the large-cap category, Advantest and Nidec Corp were the most crowded securities, each with a score of 99. Advantest also led in institutional supply utilization (44.40%).
• In the mid-cap category, Yaskawa Electric was the most crowded security (99), rising from a crowdedness score of 94 in August. Aozora Bank stood out with the highest institutional supply utilization (90.45%) and community borrow fee (2.13%).
• In the small-cap category, Money Forward was the most crowded security, with a score of 99, for the second consecutive month. Flat Glass Group led in institutional supply utilization (60.81%) and community borrow fee (1.37%).

The Shortside Crowdedness Report tracks shorting activity in three different metrics:

• Hazeltree Crowdedness Score: This score represents securities that are being shorted by the highest percentage of funds in Hazeltree's community in a pre-defined category. The securities are graded on a scale of 1-99, with 99 representing the security that the highest percentage of funds are shorting.
• Institutional Supply Utilization: This figure represents the percentage of the institutional investors' supply of a particular security that is being lent out. The institutional supply utilization rate is an indicator of how "hot" a security is in terms of the supply-demand dynamic. It is possible to see 100% utilization of a security's availability, making it difficult to establish new short positions.
• Hazeltree Community Borrow Fee: This figure is the average weighted fee for what funds in the Hazeltree community are paying to borrow a security. The fee is represented as the annualized cost calculated as a percentage of the price of the security.

To view Hazeltree's September Shortside Crowdedness Report and past reports, click here.

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About Hazeltree
Hazeltree is a leader in active treasury and intelligent operations technology. Purpose-built for the alternative asset management ecosystem, Hazeltree's modular platform aggregates internal and external data, providing a comprehensive view of operations and counterparty relationships while proactively highlighting opportunities to extract more value from every transaction. Hazeltree is headquartered in New York with offices in London and Hong Kong.