Etsy, Carmax most shorted S&P 500 consumer discretionary stocks in mid-January

Bets against consumer discretionary stocks are fractionally lower from the end of 2023. Average short interest across S&P 500 consumer discretionary stocks edged 2 bps lower to 2.87% of shares float in mid-January.

The S&P 500’s consumer discretionary sector (NYSEARCA:XLY) is down 2.6%, compared to the broader S&P 500, which climbed 3.4% from the start of the year.

Industry Analysis:

Average short interest as a percentage of floating shares

Leisure Equipment & Products remains the most shorted industry within the consumer discretionary sector with 5.56% short interest as of mid-January, up from 5.39% at the end of 2023.

Hotels, Restaurant & Leisure was the second most shorted industry within the sector with 4.35% short interest as of mid-January, flat from December 2023.

Broadline Retail was the least shorted industry within the sector with 1.23% short interest as of mid-January, fractionally lower from December 2023.

Stocks with the largest and least short positions.

Ranked by short interest as a percentage of shares float

Etsy (ETSY) was the most-shorted consumer stock, with 14.6M shares sold short as of 12th January 2024, or 12.31% of the shares float.

Carmax (KMX) was the second-most-shorted consumer discretionary stock at 11.72% of shares float, followed by Pool (POOL) with short interest of 11.47% and Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) with 11.41%.

Amazon.Com (AMZN) is the least shorted stock, with 84.85M shares sold short or 0.94% of the shares float, followed by TJX Companies (TJX) and Home Depot (HD) with short interest of 0.96% and 0.97% respectively.