Investors are piling on bets against Urban Outfitters . Data compiled by FactSet showed that short interest on the retail stock rose 18% to 14 million shares, or about 27% of the overall float, through the end of August. The float refers to the stocks available for trading. Urban Outfitters shares have been on fire in the third quarter, up 14% in that time. However, the stock has been hit hard in 2022, losing 27% and lagging the broader market. Another stock that saw its short interest tick up was MicroStrategy , which now has 34% of its float being shorted. The cloud software company (and bitcoin proxy) is up about 40% in the third quarter, but has lost 57% year to date. Meanwhile, short interest in meme stock Bed Bath & Beyond . As of the end of August, 40% of the float was being shorted. Bed Bath & Beyond shares are down 11% in September. However, the stock is still up nearly 70% in the third quarter. Short-selling is a bet against a stock practiced mostly by hedge funds and involves borrowing shares and selling them in order to buy them back more cheaply, profiting from the difference. Check out below the full list of heavily shorted stocks. (Note: The table below includes stocks traded on the NASDAQ or NYSE exchanges with short interest greater than 25% of their total float and at least $100 million in market cap. Short interest data is updated twice a month and reported mid-month and at the end of the month. These figures are current as of Aug. 31 as reported by the exchanges, via FactSet. The next release date is Sept. 26 for short interest data as of Sept. 15).
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