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The information technology sector, which holds the highest weightage on the S&P, saw a marginal increase in short bets in February as compared to January.
Average short interest across S&P 500 information technology stocks was 1.35% in February.
The S&P 500’s information technology sector (NYSEARCA:XLK) is up 9.2% YTD, compared to an 8.5% gain of the broader S&P 500.
Stocks with the largest and least short positions
Ranked by short interest as a percentage of shares float
Enphase Energy (NASDAQ:ENPH) was the most shorted information technology stock, with 9.07M shares sold short as of February 29, or 6.96% of the shares float.
First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) was the second-most shorted information technology stock at 5.85% of shares float, followed by Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) with short interest of 5.75% and Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM) with 5.31%.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the least shorted stock, with 48.24M shares sold short or 0.66% of the shares float, followed by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI) with short interest of 0.72% and 0.74% respectively.
Industry Analysis
Average short interest as a percentage of floating shares
IT Services is the most shorted industry within the information technology sector with 2.08% short interest as of February end, compared to 2.26% at January end.
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment was the second most shorted industry within the sector with 1.88% short interest as of February end, up from 1.85% at January end.
