Plant-Based Food Stocks And Biotechs Are Among The Most Shorted Names On Wall Street

March 28, 2023

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Tattooed Chef, along with a slew of biotech companies, has seen its stock price rise and investors have increased their bets as of this month's first half.

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According to Trade Algo data, there were 17.1 million shares available for a short sale as of March 15, a rise of nearly 4%, which represents 35% of the total share float for Tattooed Chef. The percentage of float refers to the number of shares available for trading divided by the total number of shares that can be sold short, and it is determined by the number of shares that are sold short.

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Despite the slight fall of 2.5% in Beyond Meat shares, short interest in another plant-based food company remained high, at around 21 million shares even after the shares fell by 2.5%. According to the most recent figures, Beyond Meat still holds approximately 36% of the float of the company.

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A number of biotech companies were also impacted by this month's surge in short interest, which was seen in a number of other companies.

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Investors have increased their bets against Allogene Therapeutics over the first half of March by about 8%, and the shares of the company have increased from 39.8 million to approximately half their total float. An Allogene company is a biotechnology firm that is developing cancer treatments at the clinical stage of development.

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Sana Biotechnology, which utilizes engineered cells for use in medication, has reported a 30 million share short interest, or about 37% of the float, and based on the average volume of trading, it would take 28 days to cover the short interest.

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About 30% of the company's float is shorted, or 20.6 million shares, which represents a jump of about 8%. Editas Medicine is a clinical-stage biotech company that uses gene editing technology to treat rare diseases.

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A further increase of 11% in short interest was also noted in Arcutis Biotherapeutics, as short interest reached 13.7 million shares or nearly 32% of available shares.

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Listed below are the most shorted stocks this month, based on market values of at least $100 million, and with short positions amounting to at least 25% of their float.

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