Wolfspeed Jumps 6.1% Even as Short Sellers Pile In
A GuruFocus screen of the most heavily shorted US stocks puts Wolfspeed, BigBear.ai, UiPath and Recursion at the front of the queue — and the tape on 12 August split them apart.
GuruFocus named Wolfspeed Inc (NYSE: WOLF), BigBear.ai Holdings Inc (NYSE: BBAI), UiPath Inc (NYSE: PATH) and Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: RXRX) among the most heavily shorted US stocks, with Wolfspeed trading at $31.98, up 6.10%, as of 19:56 GMT on 12 August 2026.
The most crowded short trades in the US market rarely move together, and Wednesday's tape made that plain. A GuruFocus screen of the stocks Wall Street is betting against most heavily flagged Wolfspeed and BigBear.ai as the standouts, alongside UiPath, Recursion Pharmaceuticals and three other small- and mid-cap names carrying outsized bearish positioning.
Yet on the day the list circulated, the group split. Wolfspeed Inc (NYSE: WOLF) was the day's winner among the named stocks, changing hands at $31.98, up 6.10% from a prior close of $30.14, with an intraday range of $31.24 to $33.00 as of 19:56 GMT on 12 August 2026. BigBear.ai Holdings Inc (NYSE: BBAI) went the other way, at $3.25, down 2.40% from $3.33.
What a heavy short book actually means for the tape
Short interest is the number of shares borrowed and sold by traders expecting a decline. Expressed as a percentage of the freely tradable float, it is a measure of conviction — and of fuel. Because every short position has to be closed by buying the stock back, a crowded short book is simultaneously a vote against the company and a reservoir of latent demand. That asymmetry is why heavily shorted names tend to move in violent, disproportionate bursts rather than steady drifts.
Wolfspeed's 6.10% single-session gain against a broad market that barely budged is a textbook illustration. The S&P 500 tracker SPY was at $772.08, up 0.20%, and the Dow 30 proxy DIA at $537.01, down 0.05%. The Nasdaq 100 fund QQQ, the most tech-weighted of the three, was the strongest of the benchmarks at $723.12, up 0.65%. None of that explains a move of Wolfspeed's size. Idiosyncratic flow in a stock with a large borrowed position does.
Where the seven names sit on the day
The list spans silicon carbide semiconductors, defence-adjacent artificial intelligence, enterprise automation software, drug discovery, consumer goods, hydrogen fuel cells and electric vehicles. What binds them is not sector but profile: cash-hungry businesses with long payback horizons and stories that depend on execution several years out. That is precisely the shape of company short sellers gravitate toward.
- Wolfspeed (NYSE: WOLF) — $31.98, +6.10%, day range $31.24–$33.00
- BigBear.ai (NYSE: BBAI) — $3.25, -2.40%, day range $3.23–$3.38
- UiPath (NYSE: PATH) — $15.34, -2.42%, day range $14.98–$15.53
- Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RXRX) — $3.31, -1.19%, day range $3.26–$3.39
- PRPL — 6.64, -8.41%, the sharpest decline in the group
- PLUG — 2.31, +4.05%
- LCID — 6.53, -2.54%
Four of the seven fell. Two rose. The spread between the best and worst performers on the list ran to roughly 14.5 percentage points on a single session, which is a useful reminder that "heavily shorted" is a description of positioning, not a forecast.
Why these particular business models attract the borrow
Each of the named companies shares at least one of the characteristics that make a short thesis easy to construct. Wolfspeed sells silicon carbide chips into power electronics and electric vehicles — a capital-intensive manufacturing business where new fabrication capacity has to be paid for long before it earns. BigBear.ai and UiPath sit at opposite ends of the software spectrum: one a small AI analytics provider dependent on government and enterprise contract timing, the other a larger automation platform facing the question of whether generative AI complements or cannibalises its product.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals runs a computational drug-discovery model, where the payoff is binary and distant. Hydrogen fuel cells, premium mattresses and luxury electric vehicles — the businesses behind the three remaining tickers — each depend on discretionary demand, subsidy regimes or both. Note that at $3.25, $3.31, 2.31 and 6.53, four of the seven trade in single digits. Low absolute share prices concentrate percentage volatility, which magnifies both the reward and the risk on the short side.
The two-sided risk in crowded bearish trades
For a short seller, the maximum gain on any position is the full share price; the maximum loss is theoretically unlimited. That mathematics changes behaviour. When a heavily shorted stock starts rising, the incentive to close out early is strong, and rushing to buy back borrowed shares pushes the price higher still. Wolfspeed touching $33.00 intraday before settling back to $31.98 is consistent with that kind of scramble, though the data alone cannot confirm the cause.
Long investors reading a short-interest screen should be careful about which conclusion they draw. Two readings are available and they point in opposite directions. The first treats concentrated short interest as informed scepticism: professional money has examined the balance sheet and the cash burn and reached an unfavourable view. The second treats it as a coiled spring: any positive surprise forces mechanical buying that has nothing to do with fundamentals. Both have been right at different points in the cycle, and neither is a valuation argument.
What to watch from here
The practical follow-ups are specific rather than thematic. First, whether Wolfspeed holds the gain into the close and the following sessions, or gives it back — one-day squeezes in low-priced, heavily borrowed stocks frequently reverse. Second, whether the decliners on the list keep grinding lower, which is what a working short thesis looks like over time. PRPL's 8.41% drop was more than three times the size of the fall in BigBear.ai or Lucid on the day.
Third, the next round of exchange short-interest reports, which will show whether bearish positioning in these names is building or unwinding after this week's moves. Fourth, the individual catalysts — earnings dates, contract awards, clinical readouts, capacity announcements — because in stocks with this profile a single disclosure typically does more to the share price than weeks of drift.
The broader backdrop offers no cover in either direction. With the S&P 500 up 0.20% and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.65%, the index tape was quiet. Everything that happened in these seven stocks on 12 August happened because of them, not because of the market.
Key facts
- Wolfspeed (NYSE: WOLF): $31.98, +6.10%, as of 19:56 GMT 12 Aug 2026
- BigBear.ai (NYSE: BBAI): $3.25, -2.40% on the day
- Stocks flagged: WOLF, PATH, RXRX, PRPL, BBAI, PLUG, LCID
- Market backdrop: S&P 500 (SPY) $772.08, +0.20%; Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) $723.12, +0.65%
Frequently asked questions
Which stocks were named as the most heavily shorted?
GuruFocus flagged seven tickers: Wolfspeed (WOLF), UiPath (PATH), Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX), PRPL, BigBear.ai (BBAI), PLUG and LCID. Wolfspeed and BigBear.ai were singled out in the report as facing especially heavy short-seller pressure. The group spans semiconductors, AI software, drug discovery, consumer goods, hydrogen and electric vehicles.
How did Wolfspeed trade on the day?
Wolfspeed Inc (NYSE: WOLF) traded at $31.98 as of 19:56 GMT on 12 August 2026, up 6.10% from a prior close of $30.14. Its intraday range was $31.24 to $33.00, meaning it touched a higher level before easing back. That gain far exceeded the move in any of the three major US index trackers that session.
What is short interest as a percentage of float?
It is the number of shares that traders have borrowed and sold short, divided by the shares freely available to trade. A high reading signals concentrated bearish conviction and also a large pool of shares that must eventually be bought back to close those positions, which can amplify upward moves when sentiment turns.
Does heavy short interest mean a stock will fall?
No. Short interest describes positioning, not outcome. On 12 August 2026 the seven named stocks moved in opposite directions: Wolfspeed rose 6.10% and PLUG rose 4.05%, while PRPL fell 8.41%, UiPath fell 2.42%, BigBear.ai fell 2.40% and LCID fell 2.54%. Crowded shorts can be vindicated or squeezed.
What is a short squeeze?
A short squeeze occurs when a heavily shorted stock rises and short sellers rush to buy shares back to limit losses. Because their losses are theoretically unlimited while gains are capped at the share price, the pressure to exit is intense, and the buying itself drives the price higher, creating a self-reinforcing move.
How did the broad market perform that session?
The S&P 500 tracker SPY stood at $772.08, up 0.20% from $770.56. The Nasdaq 100 fund QQQ was at $723.12, up 0.65%. The Dow 30 proxy DIA was at $537.01, down 0.05%. All three were roughly flat, so moves in the shorted names were stock-specific rather than market-driven.
Sources
Photo: AlphaTradeZone · Pexels Licence — source
