Technology stocks, including Apple, Super Micro Computer, MicroStrategy, and Synopsys, emerged as prime targets for short-sellers in January 2025, according to the latest Shortside Crowdedness Report from Hazeltree.
Hazeltree, a provider of active treasury and intelligent operations technology for the alternative asset industry, compiles the monthly report tracking short-selling activity across global equities, using proprietary data from its securities finance platform, which monitors approximately 15,000 global equities across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions. The data, aggregated and anonymised from around 700 asset manager funds representing 20% of hedge fund gross market value, assigns each security a Crowdedness Score on a scale of 1 to 99, with 99 indicating the highest concentration of short-selling activity.
“The tech sector continued to ride a wave of investor enthusiasm from December, which included short-sellers who gravitated to large-cap security names such as Apple and Super Micro,” said Tim Smith, Managing Director of Data Insights at Hazeltree. “We observed the reemergence of past 2024 crowded large caps such as Chevron and Super Micro Computer, which were among January’s most crowded shorted securities.”
In the US, Live Nation Entertainment, WEC Energy Group, Chevron, and Charter Communications topped the large-cap category with perfect Crowdedness Scores of 99. Super Micro Computer and MicroStrategy followed closely with scores of 96, with Super Micro also recording the highest institutional supply utilisation (51.03%) for the second consecutive month.
In the mid-cap category, Albemarle Corporation led with a score of 99, while AST SpaceMobile achieved the highest institutional supply utilisation at 77.57%. Wolfspeed dominated the small-cap category for the seventh straight month, scoring 99 and maintaining the highest institutional supply utilisation (60.45%).
In EMEA, French luxury group Kering SA overtook previous leaders LVMH and H&M to become the region’s most crowded large-cap security with a score of 99, while H&M continued to lead in institutional supply utilisation (65.02%) for the seventh month in a row.
In the mid-cap category, Nibe Industrier AB and Adecco Group AG tied with scores of 99, with Nibe recording the highest institutional supply utilisation (55.29%). Alphawave IP Group remained the most crowded small-cap security for the second consecutive month, scoring 99, while AMG Critical Materials N.V. led in institutional supply utilisation (81.76%).
Disco Corporation emerged as one of the most crowded large-cap securities in APAC, scoring 99, while United Microelectronics Corporation maintained the highest institutional supply utilisation (41.97%) for the second month. Kokusai Electric Corporation led the mid-cap category with a score of 99, and Alibaba Health Information Technology recorded the highest institutional supply utilisation (52.92%). In the small-cap category, Taiyo Yuden, Tokai Carbon, KeePer Technical Laboratory, and Money Forward all scored 99, with New World Development achieving the highest institutional supply utilisation (73.82%).
