Under Armour short sellers hit the jackpot after news broke of ongoing investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice into the company’s accounting practices, which has shares eyeing their biggest single-day decline in two years.
Short sellers earned more than US$130 million in mark-to-market profits on the Class A shares, as the stock crumbled 20 per cent on Monday, according to data and analytics firm S3 Partners. “This wipes out the year-to-date loss of US$79.7 million, putting short sellers back in the black for 2019,” the firm wrote in a report.
Short interest accounted for about 20.7 per cent of the available shares as of Nov. 1, just shy of the year high a few days earlier, and up from 12 per cent in February, according to data compiled by S3. “Notional, or dollars at risk, prior to today’s plunge measured in at US$819.8 million pre-open,” making Under Armour (Class A) the second most shorted U.S.-listed equity in the Apparel, Accessories & Luxury sub-industry, when measured in notional exposure. Hanesbrands Inc., which tumbled 5.1 per cent Thursday after mixed quarterly results, which signaled uncertainty to Citi’s apparel analyst, was first.
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