Global Short Sellers Circle Live Nation, Marriott, Kering, and ANTA Sports as Recession Fears Rise

Lifestyle and consumer-facing brands dominate Hazeltree’s most crowded shortlist across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC

The increased risks of a potential recession have continued to gain momentum over the last several months, and short sellers have taken note, according to the latest Hazeltree May 2025 Shortside Crowdedness Report. Major consumer brands, including half of the top-10 most crowded shorts in the Americas, were identified by Hazeltree, a leader in active treasury and intelligent operations technology for the alternative asset industry, alongside notable companies such as Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., Chevron Corporation, Marriott International, Inc., Charter Communications, and Dell Technologies Inc. Overseas, luxury goods fashion conglomerates Kering S.A. and LVMH were among the most crowded shorts in EMEA, with a score of 99, followed by consumer lifestyle sporting goods and leisure lifestyle brands ANTA Sports Products Limited and Oriental Land Co., Ltd., which ranked among the top crowded shorts in APAC.

The report is a monthly listing of the top 10 most crowded shorted securities in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions, categorized by large-, mid-, and small-cap ranges. Hazeltree compiles data from its proprietary securities finance platform data, which tracks approximately 15,000 global equities across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. The data, available to select clients, is aggregated and anonymized from the contributing Hazeltree community, which comprises approximately 700 asset management funds. The firm assigns securities a Hazeltree Crowdedness Score, a key metric that grades securities on a scale of 1 to 99, with 99 representing the highest concentration of shorting activity. This scoring highlights securities most targeted by investors and reflects key supply-demand dynamics.

“We witnessed an extension of consumer spending taking root across the globe as major lifestyle brands shot to the top of Hazeltree’s most crowded shorts across companies focused on entertainment, energy, fashion, travel, electronics, and more,” said Tim Smith, Managing Director of Data Insights at Hazeltree. “In the Americas, we also noticed large-cap stocks turning back toward tech, with five out of the most crowded shorts from four in April. Mid-cap company MARA Holdings, Inc. - the digital asset crypto mining company - also is a noteworthy standout and had an unusually high institutional supply utilization at 72.48% with the increasing investing fervor around Bitcoin.”

Highlights from the May 2025 report include:

Americas

• In the large-cap category, Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. and Chevron Corporation were the most crowded securities with a score of 99. Super Micro Computer, Inc. became the second most crowded security with a score of 97 and held the highest institutional supply utilization figure (48.24%) for the sixth straight month.
• In the mid-cap category, Albemarle Corporation is the most crowded security for the second time in 2025 with a Hazeltree Crowdedness Score of 99, while MARA Holdings, Inc. held the highest institutional supply utilization figure (72.48%).
• In the small-cap category, Kohl’s Corporation was the most crowded security with a score of 99. PureCycle Technologies, Inc. had the highest institutional supply utilization (83.49%).

EMEA

• In the large-cap category, Kering S.A. rejoined LVMH as the most crowded securities with a score of 99 and BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. had the highest institutional supply utilization (32.68%).
• In the mid-cap category, Davide Campari-Milano N.V. was the most crowded security (99) and had the highest institutional supply utilization (55.94%).
• In the small-cap category, WH Smith PLC, SSP Group plc, CVS Group plc, Senior PLC, and Basic-Fit N.V. were the most crowded securities, achieving a score of 99. Basic-Fit N.V. also topped institutional supply utilization (88.70%) for the second straight month.

APAC

• In the large-cap category, Fujikura Ltd. ascended to the top with a score of 99. Quanta Computer Inc. had the highest institutional supply utilization (22.24%).
• In the mid-cap category, Mercari, Inc. reappeared for the second month, joined by Ibiden Co., Ltd. and WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd., as the most crowded securities with a score of 99. WuXi AppTec also held the highest institutional supply utilization for the last three months (42.66%).
• In the small-cap category, Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. and Ganfeng Lithium Group Co Ltd were the most crowded securities (99). Ganfeng had the highest institutional supply utilization (52.07%).

To view Hazeltree’s May 2025 Shortside Crowdedness Report and past reports, click here.

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Hazeltree Shortside Crowdedness Report Methodology

The Shortside Crowdedness Report tracks shorting activity in three different metrics:

1. Hazeltree Crowdedness Score: This score represents securities that are being shorted by the highest percentage of funds in Hazeltree’s community in a pre-defined category. The securities are graded on a scale of 1-99, with 99 representing the security that the highest percentage of funds are shorting.
2. Institutional Supply Utilization: This figure represents the percentage of the institutional investors’ supply of a particular security that is being lent out. The institutional supply utilization rate is an indicator of how “hot” a security is in terms of the supply-demand dynamic. It is possible to see 100% utilization of a security’s availability, making it difficult to establish new short positions.
3. Hazeltree Community Borrow Fee: This figure is the average weighted fee for what funds in the Hazeltree community are paying to borrow a security. The fee is represented as the annualized cost calculated as a percentage of the price of the security.

About Hazeltree

Hazeltree is a leader in active treasury and intelligent operations technology. Purpose-built for the alternative asset management ecosystem, Hazeltree’s modular platform aggregates internal and external data, providing a comprehensive view of operations and counterparty relationships while proactively highlighting opportunities to extract more value from every transaction. Hazeltree is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Bournemouth, and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.hazeltree.com.

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