Deutsche Bank analysts’ latest hedge fund trends report highlighted an increased short interest in RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH), Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE:WTW), and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR).
Short interest in Twitter
Borrow rates for social media site Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), which went public in a much-hyped IPO last year, rose as much as 20% through the end of December, according to Deutsche Bank analysts, but later normalized, and were about 12-15% in the spot market on January 7. The company’s shares fell nearly 24% on February 7, the day it announced its fourth quarter earnings, due to disappointing growth in its user base. Following its earnings call, its shares have been down over 4% on average.
Short interest in RadioShack
RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH) has also been a top pick for short sellers, and its stock has traded down over 9% since December. Short interest has been rising since October and was at 39.5 million in January, which represents 40% of the stock’s free float. RadioShack will announce its Q4 2013 earnings on the 24th of this month.
Short interest in Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE:WTW) has had borrow rates on an upward trend as short interest combined with lower liquidity for short sales have pushed up short interest. Deutsche Bank estimated short interest at approximately 10 million shares in January, which is over 36% of free float. The company will announce earnings for the fourth quarter on February 13.
by Saranya Kapur
