GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) has been in the headlines constantly over the past two weeks as the poster boy for the monster short squeeze them that has threatened the existence of multiple multi-billion-dollar hedge funds, including Melvin Capital and Maplelane.
But, this is hardly just a story about GME. A basket of stocks has coalesced as the go-to group for regular short squeeze action, delivering often jaw-dropping returns sometimes in hours or even just minutes. Traders in communities like Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets forum regularly circulate the tickers in play and go after the shorts like sharks in red-tinted water.
With that in mind, we take a look at some of the most interesting heavily shorted names out there right now, including: GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME), AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC), Signal Advance Inc (OTCMKTS:SIGL), and BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE:BB).
GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME), as noted above, has been at ground zero of the “Get Shorty!” revolution in the market. The company trumpets itself as a company that operates as a multichannel video game, consumer electronics, and wireless services retailer. It operates in five segments: United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, and Technology Brands.
The company sells new and pre-owned video game hardware; video game software; pre-owned and value video games; video game accessories, including controllers, gaming headsets, virtual reality products, memory cards, and other add-ons; and digital products, such as downloadable content, network points cards, prepaid digital and prepaid subscription cards, and digitally downloadable software.
GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) most recently announced that it has appointed Matt Francis to the newly-created role of Chief Technology Officer. According to the release, Mr. Francis has a start date of February 15, 2021.
Mr. Francis brings more than two decades of experience in e-commerce and consumer technology to GameStop. Most recently, he was an Engineering Leader at Amazon Web Services. He previously held senior-level technology roles at companies such as QVC and Zulily. At GameStop, Mr. Francis will be responsible for overseeing e-commerce and technology functions.
The stock has suffered a bit of late, with shares of GME taking a hit in recent action, down about -72% over the past week.
GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) generated sales of $1B, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a sequential quarter-over-quarter growth rate of 6.7% on the top line. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($586.6M against $1.6B, respectively).
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) is another big squeeze play on the trading radar in recent action. The company trumpets itself as the largest movie exhibition company in the United States, the largest in Europe and the Middle East, and the largest throughout the world, with approximately 1,000 theatres and 10,700 screens across the globe.
AMC has propelled innovation in the exhibition industry by deploying its Signature power-recliner seats, delivering enhanced food and beverage choices, generating greater guest engagement through its loyalty and subscription programs, website, and mobile apps, offering premium large format experiences, and playing a wide variety of content, including the latest Hollywood releases and independent programming.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) most recently announced that since December 14, 2020, it has successfully raised or signed commitment letters to receive $917 million of new equity and debt capital. This increased liquidity should allow the company to make it through this dark coronavirus-impacted winter.
According to the company’s release, of this $917 million in much-welcomed monies, AMC has raised $506 million of equity, from the issuance of 164.7 million new common shares, along with the previously announced securing of $100 million of additional first-lien debt and the concurrent issuance of 22 million new common shares to convert $100 million of second-lien debt into equity.
The stock has suffered a bit of late, with shares of AMC taking a hit in recent action, down about -18% over the past week.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) managed to rope in revenues totaling $119.5M in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of -90.9%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($428.8M against $1.6B, respectively).
Signal Advance Inc (OTCMKTS:SIGL) has been heavily shorted, with several days of shorting above 80% of all transactions for the day in the past month according to OTCshortreport.com. Along with other stocks in this market, that suggests SIGL may be susceptible to another major squeeze ahead. Earlier this year, we saw that dynamic in full display with shares of the stock spiking over 1000% higher in hours. We could see something similar here again.
The company produces disruptive technology that seeks to revolutionize markets across sectors, including medical, cybersecurity, military, transportation, and industrial controls, among others, by improving performance through faster response time in most closed loop systems.
Signal Advance Inc (OTCMKTS:SIGL) recently posted strong performance data, including over $6 million pre-tax income, apparently earning $0.1644 per share during the nine months ended September 30, 2020. The company also posted over $9 million in total current assets in the same report. In that report, the company posted a year-over-year growth in cash on hand of over 7,700%. One might assume that we will also see year ending financials for 2020 before too long.
With a 2 million share short position (51%) as of Jan 11, this stock could be poised for potential volatility to the upside. After hitting $15.80 on Friday Jan 15 on panic short covering, this thinly traded stock is in the news again.
While the pullback has been deep, SIGL shares are still up over 300% in 2021 and trading well above their 200-day moving average. As the stock finds traction near current levels, shorts could be back on the run in a blink.
Signal Advance Inc (OTCMKTS:SIGL) is working to disrupt the status quo across numerous industries and has a strong foundation in place with a sturdy balance sheet, as cash levels far exceed current liabilities ($8.7M against $14K).
BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE:BB), another headline-making squeeze favorite, provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 175M cars on the road today.
Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security management, encryption, and embedded systems.
BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE:BB) recently announced an expansion of its strategic partnership with Baidu, whose high-definition maps will run on the QNX® Neutrino Real-time Operating System (RTOS) and will be mass-produced in the forthcoming GAC New Energy Aion models from the EV arm of GAC Group (Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd.).
“With BlackBerry QNX’s embedded software as its foundation, Baidu has made significant progress as part of its Apollo platform in establishing a commercial ecosystem for innovative technologies that OEMs can leverage for their next generation vehicles,” said Dhiraj Handa, VP, Channel, Partners and APAC, BlackBerry Technology Solutions. “We look forward to continuing to work closely with Baidu to help develop and deploy leading edge autonomous driving and connected vehicle technologies to meet the ever-increasing mission-critical and security requirements of the automotive industry.”
Even in light of this news, BB has had a rough past week of trading action, with shares sinking something like -10% in that time. That said, chart support is nearby, and we may be in the process of constructing a nice setup for some movement back the other way.
BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE:BB) generated sales of $287.1M, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a sequential quarter-over-quarter growth rate of -17.5% on the top line. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($873.4M against $553.3M).
