Tag: CNK

NYSE Stocks with the Highest Short Interest for Short Squeeze Plays

by Fred Fuld III

Have you ever wondered why stocks that are heavily shorted can spike up in price so much?

When you short a stock, it means that you plan to make money from a drop in the price of a stock. Technically, what happens is that you borrow shares of a stock, sell those shares immediately, then buy back those shares at a hopefully lower price so that you can return those shares. This all happens electronically, so you don’t actually see all the borrowing and returning of shares; it just shows up on your screen as a negative number of shares.

Short sellers can make money, but sometimes when the stock moves against them, and begins to rise, the short sellers jump in fast to buy shares to cover their positions, creating what is called a short squeeze. When a short squeeze takes place, it can cause the share prices to increase fast and furiously. Any positive news can trigger the short squeeze.

Some traders utilize this situation by looking for stocks to buy that may have a potential short squeeze. Here is what a short squeeze trader should take into consideration:

Short Percentage of Float ~ The float is the number of freely tradable shares and the short percentage is the number of shares held short divided by the float. Amounts over 10% to 20% are considered high and potential short squeeze plays.

Short Ratio / Days to Cover / Short Interest Ratio -This is probably the most important metric when looking for short squeeze trades, no matter what you call it. This is the number of days it would take the short sellers to cover their position based on the average daily volume of shares traded. This is a significant ratio as it shows how “stuck” the short sellers are when they want to buy in their shares without driving up the price too much. Unfortunately for the shortsellers, the longer the number of days to cover, the bigger and longer the squeeze.

Short Percentage Increase ~ This is the percentage increase in the number of short sellers from the previous month.

The following are some heavily shorted stocks that may be worth considering.

CompanySymbolShort InterestShort % ChangeShort Interest Ratio
Fisker IncFSR47.28%13%3.8
Carvana CoCVNA40.04%-11%3.9
C3.ai IncAI38.08%-2%4.3
Kohl’s CorporationKSS27.11%8%5.4
Cinemark Holdings, Inc.CNK26.53%-1%9.4
IONQ IncIONQ26.22%2%5.4

The fourth stock on the list, Kohl’s (KSS) has over 27% of its float shorted, an increase of 8% over last month.

The short interest ratio is 5.4, which means that it would take the short sellers over five days to cover their position, based on recent average volume.

Cinemark Holdings (CNK) is another stock that is heavily shorted with over 26% now short with almost no change in short interest from the previous month.

The short interest ratio is 9, which means that it would take the short sellers over nine days to cover their position, based on recent average volume.

Just keep in mind that just because a stock has good ratios and is heavily shorted, doesn’t mean that the stock will go up, especially in a bear market. Also, stocks that are significantly shorted may be shorted for a reason.

Disclosure: Author had no positions in any of the above at the time the article was written.

NYSE Stocks with the Highest Short Interest

by Fred Fuld III

A short squeeze is a phenomenon that occurs in financial markets when investors who have sold shares of a stock short (i.e., betting that the stock price will fall) are forced to buy those shares back at a higher price than they expected. This can happen when the stock’s price rises sharply, causing losses for short sellers who need to buy the stock to cover their position and limit their losses.

As more and more short sellers try to buy the stock to close out their positions, this increased buying activity can drive the stock price even higher, creating a feedback loop that can lead to a rapid and dramatic increase in price. This can create a challenging situation for short sellers, who may be forced to buy back the stock at a loss, or risk even greater losses if the stock continues to rise. A short squeeze can also create opportunities for long investors who have purchased the stock, as they may be able to sell their shares at a higher price to short sellers looking to cover their positions.

On August 22, 2022, I posted an article about meme related short squeeze stocks, and pointed out Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY) after it had its big run-up. In exactly one week after the article was posted, the stock jumped by more than 43%.

Another stock that was mentioned was Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ICPT), which increased by almost 5% in just two days.

The stock with the biggest short ratio (days to cover), at 14.3 back then, was Heron Therapeutics, Inc. (HRTX). It rose by 9.5% in three days.

When you short a stock, it means that your goal is to make money from a drop in the price of a stock. Technically, what happens is that you borrow shares of a stock, sell those shares, then buy back those shares at a hopefully lower price so that those shares can be returned. This all happens electronically, so you don’t actually see all the borrowing and returning of shares; it just shows up on your screen as a negative number of shares.

Short sellers can be profitable, but sometimes when the stock moves against them, and begins to rise, the short sellers jump in right away to buy shares to cover their positions, creating what is called a short squeeze. When a short squeeze takes place, it can cause the share prices to increase fast and furiously. Any good news can trigger the short squeeze.

Some traders utilize this situation by looking for stocks to buy that may have a potential short squeeze. Here is what a short squeeze trader should take into consideration:

Short Percentage of Float ~ The float is the number of freely tradable shares and the short percentage is the number of shares held short divided by the float. Amounts over 10% to 20% are considered high and potential short squeeze plays.

Short Ratio / Days to Cover / Short Interest Ratio -This is probably the most important metric when looking for short squeeze trades, no matter what you call it. This is the number of days it would take the short sellers to cover their position based on the average daily volume of shares traded. This is a significant ratio as it shows how “stuck” the short sellers are when they want to buy in their shares without driving up the price too much. Unfortunately for the shortsellers, the longer the number of days to cover, the bigger and longer the squeeze.

Short Percentage Increase ~ This is the percentage increase in in the number of short sellers from the previous month.

The following are some heavily shorted tech stock that may be worth considering.

CompanyTickerShort % of FloatShort % ChangeShort Interest Ratio
Silvergate Capital CorpSI76.92%-6%1.2
Carvana CoCVNA52.82%0%1.8
Wayfair IncW33.65%0%4.2
Big Lots, Inc.BIG32.44%-1%7
C3.ai IncAI27.31%5%1.4
Fubotv IncFUBO26.57%-27%3.2
Virgin Galactic HoldingsSPCE25.92%9%5.9
Bakkt Holdings IncBKKT24.53%6%4.3
AMC EntertainmentAMC24.39%1%3.7
Cinemark Holdings, Inc.CNK23.73%0%7.6

The third stock on the list, Wayfair (W) has over 33% of its float shorted, with no change in short interest over last month.

The short interest ratio is 4.2, which means that it would take the short sellers over 4 days to cover their position, based on recent average volume.

Just keep in mind that just because a stock has good earnings ratios and is heavily shorted, doesn’t mean that the stock will go up, especially in a bear market. Also, stocks that are significantly shorted may be shorted for a reason.

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.

Will Movie Theater Stocks Become Blockbusters?

People are going back in to the movie theaters to see the big screen. Over Christmas weekend, Avatar: the Wave of Water pulled in $64,000,000 in box office gross, and has brought in a total gross of $261,681,686 so far.

by Fred Fuld III

Over Christmas weekend, Avatar: the Wave of Water pulled in $64,000,000 in box office gross, and has brought in a total gross of $261,681,686 so far.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish generated $12,420,000, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody sold $4,765,000, and Babylon brought in $3,600,000 over the same weekend.

People are going back in to the movie theaters to see the big screen.

Unfortunately for the theater companies, their performance over the last year has been miserable.

For example, Cinemark (CNK) has dropped by 46% year to date and is down over 20% just in the last week.

However, Texas based Cinemark,  operates over 500 theaters with more than 5,800 screens in the United States, and South and Central America. 

The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 23, and has an earnings per share expected growth rate 0f 127% next year. Quarterly revenue growth was 49.6% year over year.

It also has a very favorable price to sales ratio of 0.45. (Remember, a P/S of less than 1 is good, above 2 is not so good.)

Marcus (MCS), which owns and operates movie theaters, along with hotels and resorts, is down 22% so far year to date.

Marcus has a nosebleed high P/E ratio of 422, but a more reasonable forward P/E of 26. Earnings per share this year were up 70.4%.

The price sales ratio is a great 0.64, and the stock is even selling below book value with a price to book of 0.96.

The stock even pays a dividend with a yield of 1.44%.

There is also Reading International (RDI), the owner of theater chains, which is down 30%, and of course the famous meme stock, AMC Entertainment (AMC) which has tanked by 74% this year.

StockSymbolYTD Price
AMC EntertainmentAMC-74%
CinemarkCNK-46%
MarcusMCS-22%
Reading InternationalRDI-30%
IMAXIMAX-22%

Will any of these stocks bounce after year end tax selling? It is impossible to know, but maybe one of these will win an award for Best Stock.

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.

AMC Doubled Today: What About the Other Movie Theater Stocks?

by Fred Fuld III

In case you missed it, the stock price of AMC Entertainment (AMC), the company that owns the chain of movie theaters, doubled today.  Well, OK, it was up only 95.22%, but it is up another 5.20% in after market trading, as I am writing this.

AMC chart

To think that you could have both AMC for $2 a share back in January, and now it is over $62.

Of course, AMC is one of the “stonks”, a stock that has a large group of traders buying the stock to take advantage of the fact that the stock is heavily shorted, creating a major short squeeze. So the substantial increase today has nothing to do with the company’s earnings, revenues, or anything else.

However, it does point out the fact that the number of American’s that have been vaccinated has been on the rise and the COVID-19 infection rate is dropping. It also means that people are more willing to get out and go to a movie theater. Especially a nice air conditioned theater during the hot summer.

Cinemark Holdings Inc. (CNK), based in Plano, Texas, operates over 500 theaters. It has a market cap of $3 billion, and is generating negative earnings. It does not pay a dividend.

The Marcus Corporation (MCS) owns theaters in 17 states with the brands Marcus Theatres, Movie Tavern by Marcus, and BistroPlex. Earnings are currently negative. It has a market cap of $710 million.

Cineworld Group PLC ( CNNWF) is a UK based company that operates such theater chains as Regal, United Artists, Edwards theatres, Cineworld, and Picturehouse. Earnings are currently negative. The market cap is $1.8 billion.

IMAX Corporation (IMAX) offers theater software and equipment to theaters. Earnings are currently negative. The stock trades at 25.7 time forward earnings, and does not pay a dividend. IMAX has a market cap of $1.3 billion.

Let’s see if any of these stocks become blockbusters.

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.