Why Apple Short Sellers Remain Cautious

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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The number of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares sold short continued to dwindle in early June. However, it was not like in late May, when short sellers got spooked and the short interest in the company dropped 21%.

In the period that ended June 15, Apple short interest fell 1.9% from the previous period to nearly 60.50 million shares. Forecasts and announcements about product or services at the recent Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) could be part of the reason short sellers are shying away. Apple unveiled its new streaming music service, Apple Music, at the conference. It will be interesting to see how the battle in music streaming will shake out, but ultimately it will come down to the music libraries, owned customers subscribed and the artists licensed by each company, all areas in which Apple has a leg up.

By and large, analysts were positive on Apple’s prospects after the WWDC, even if not all were wildly enthusiastic.

The total short position in Apple is 13th among all Nasdaq-traded stocks, just shy of Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) and Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), which each had a little more than 63 million shares short. Some would argue that the Apple short position is only symbolic as far as sentiment about the company goes. It is only 1.1% of Apple’s total share float. However, investors do use short interest as a primary means to bet on the future. And Apple continues to do things on which it is worth gambling.

ALSO READ: The 6 Most Heavily Shorted Nasdaq Stocks

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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