Lululemon Athletica short interest is at 5.65 million shares shorted for 5.41% of float.
Despite reporting fiscal Q3 earnings that beat analysts’ expectations, a disappointing fourth quarter holiday guidance has the shares trading lower by 13% today.
Over the past 6 months of trading, bearish speculators have increased their short exposure by over 1.5 million shares. This 39% increase has short interest heading towards levels last seen around the holiday season a year ago, when 5.77 million shares were sold short end of Dec ‘17.
Investors on the short side of the LULU trade are seeing a paper gain of close to $100 million with the stock down by over $17/share today. This should help ease the pain that shorts have incurred year-to-date, with the shares up ~45%.
LULU ranks as the #2 short within the US/Canadian Apparel, Accessories & Luxury sub-industry, sandwiched in-between #1 short Under Armour (UAA) and #3 short Hanesbrands (HBI), all with current short exposure over $500 million each.
