Short-selling activity surged across global markets in June, with hedge funds zeroing in on consumer lifestyle and technology stocks, according to Hazeltree’s latest Shortside Crowdedness Report, which reflects data from approximately 700 asset management funds.
According to Hazeltree, which provides treasury and operations technology to the alternative asset space, June’s most frequently targeted consumer discretionary names included Live Nation Entertainment, JetBlue Airways, Kering, LVMH Moët Hennessy, ANTA Sports Products, and Oriental Land. On the technology side, high short interest was recorded in Super Micro Computer, Synopsys, Philips, Nintendo, and Hon Hai Precision.
The report identifies the top 10 most crowded short positions across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, spanning large-, mid-, and small-cap segments. Hazeltree calculates a “Crowdedness Score” between 1 and 99, with higher scores indicating intense shorting activity. The underlying data, aggregated and anonymised from Hazeltree’s platform, covers around 15,000 global equities and offers institutional clients insight into short-side risk and positioning trends.
“While consumer lifestyle brands have continued to dominate the top 10 most crowded shorts over the past two months, in June we also saw a renewed focus on technology names across all market caps globally,” said Tim Smith, Managing Director of Data Insights at Hazeltree. “One notable shift was the disappearance of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF from the Americas large-cap top 10, which may signal a pivot away from broad US equity exposure in favor of international allocations.
“At the same time, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. entered the top 10 for the first time this year—potentially a response to the firm’s strong stress test results, its planned dividend hike, and continued cost-control efforts, including layoffs.”
In the Americas, Chevron remained the most crowded large-cap short with a perfect score of 99, while Live Nation slipped to second place. Super Micro Computer posted the highest institutional supply utilisation rate at 45.81% for the seventh consecutive month. EchoStar led mid-cap shorting activity, while MP Materials held the highest utilisation figure in its category. Among small-caps, Edgewell Personal Care topped the crowdedness rankings, and Applied Optoelectronics saw the highest utilisation rate.
In the EMEA region, luxury giants Kering and LVMH continued to attract heavy short interest, alongside BE Semiconductor. H&M again recorded the highest institutional utilisation at 70.35%. Mid-cap shorting was led by Melrose Industries, with Davide Campari-Milano seeing elevated borrow rates for a second consecutive month. Worldline SA topped the small-cap list, while Basic-Fit posted the region’s highest utilisation for the third month running.
Across APAC markets, ANTA Sports and Oriental Land tied for the highest large-cap crowdedness score, with Chow Tai Fook leading institutional utilisation at 80.23%. Ibiden was the most shorted mid-cap stock for the second straight month, and Nissan Motor registered its first appearance with the highest utilisation in its category. Small-cap standout Money Forward retained its position as the most crowded security for the third time this year, while Lye Pharma recorded the highest borrow rate at 77.75%.
