6 Stocks With Hot Short-Selling Activity

Sungard's Astec Analytics is out with a new list of the top six "hot" stocks that are experiencing notable short selling activity.

Google: Post-Earnings Surge

Shares of Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) surged higher following its quarterly print. Nevertheless, Sungard's data noted that SEC lending data "hints at continued short selling" over the past three weeks with borrowing volumes up around 10 percent over that time period.

Etsy: Shorts Still Borrowing Despite Google Commentary

Google specifically named Etsy Inc (NASDAQ: ETSY) as being a beneficiary of traffic coming from new search algorithms. The news boosted shares of Etsy higher last week but Sungard's data is now indicating that short sellers are "continuing to demand" borrowing the stock. As such, the cost of borrowing has risen from 24 percent to 48 percent last week.

Chesapeake Energy: Short Selling Activity ‘Still Climbing'

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) was recently ordered to pay $59.1 million to some bond investors, which is on top of the $370 million judgment already handed out earlier this month. As such, Astec's data suggests that demand to short sell the stock continued to climb with the cost of borrowing the stock rising from 1 percent at the start of July to more than 18 percent last week.

Fitbit: Demand To Short ‘Equally Active'

Shares of Fitbit Inc (NYSE: FIT) have benefited from a strong post-IPO run and several bullish analyst notes from Wall Street. Nevertheless, Astec's data concluded that demand to short sell the stock is still "equally active" as the cost of borrowing shares rose from around 4.5 percent to over 16 percent last week.

Box: Short Sellers Taking A ‘Bearish View'

Following the lock-up period coming to a close, shares of Box Inc (NYSE: BOX) were somewhat volatile. Astec's data pointed out that short sellers are "taking a bearish view" with borrowing volumes recently climbing 39 percent.

Cliffs Natural Resources: Commodity Price Pressures

Finally, short sellers took notice of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (NYSE: CLF)'s pressure in the cash market and declining commodity prices. As such, shares being borrowed are now 30 percent higher than they were a month ago.