One
of
the
most
shorted
names
in
the
market
this
week
includes
downbeat
auto
stock
Vinfast
Auto
.
Short
selling
is
a
high-risk
strategy
used
by
investors
to
speculate
on
a
potential
decline
in
a
stock’s
price.
Investors
borrow
stocks
and
sell
them
off.
When
prices
theoretically
come
back
down
in
the
future,
the
traders
then
repurchase
the
stock
at
a
cheaper
price
to
return
it
and
pocket
the
difference.
But
these
investors
also
put
themselves
at
risk
of
a
short
squeeze,
which
happens
when
a
stock’s
price
soars,
forcing
them
to
scramble
to
repurchase
the
stocks
—
or
cover
their
shorts
—
at
a
loss.
Overall,
short
interest
ticked
higher
over
the
past
month.
CNBC
Pro
screened
FactSet
data
for
the
stocks
trading
on
either
the
Nasdaq
or
New
York
Stock
Exchange
that
are
at
risk
of
a
short
squeeze.
Stocks
in
the
table
below
all
have
short
interest
of
more
than
25%
of
their
float
and
at
least
$250
million
in
market
capitalization.
One
of
the
most
shorted
names
in
the
market
this
week
included
VinFast
Auto,
which
has
lost
50%
of
its
value
this
year.
VinFast’s
short
interest
as
a
percent
of
float
jumped
26%
to
4.5
million
shares,
or
nearly
40%
of
float.
Analysts
are
bullish
on
the
stock,
with
all
of
those
covering
VinFast
rating
it
a
buy
or
strong
buy
and
forecasting
a
whopping
104.81%
upside,
according
to
FactSet.
However,
the
electric
carmaker
has
been
forced
to
lower
its
annual
delivery
forecast
this
year
to
80,000
vehicles
from
100,000.
The
company
also
has
seen
delays
in
the
timeline
of
its
North
Carolina
manufacturing
facility
to
2028,
and
has
struggled
with
having
to
issue
a
vehicle
recall.
Short
interest
in
health-care
company
Cassava
Sciences
jumped
23%
to
16.1
million
shares,
or
about
36%
of
float.
The
stock
is
currently
down
39%
on
the
year.
Kohl’s
is
another
potential
short-squeeze
candidate,
with
short
interest
in
the
department
store
reaching
40.7
million
shares,
or
around
37.3%
of
total
float.
Opinion
on
the
stock
is
divided,
and
the
average
price
target
suggests
an
upside
of
just
over
2%,
according
to
LSEG.
Kohl’s
has
struggled
as
more
consumers
switch
away
from
shopping
at
department
stores,
to
buying
more
items
online.
One
notable
departure
from
this
week’s
list
of
short-sell
candidates
was
Reddit
.
Short
interest
in
the
social
media
platform
and
meme
stock
darling
fell
16%,
to
just
23%
of
float.
