Key facts
- Short sellers have profited nearly $6 billion this month.
- Short interest in CoreWeave is 23.7% of free float.
- Nebius investors have gained $2.94 billion in paper profits in October.
- IREN and Applied Digital short sellers have made over $1.2 billion combined.
- Core Scientific short sellers clocked $115 million in October profits.
- Approximately $17 billion of stock across five companies is sold short.
Investors betting against US neocloud and data center companies have made approximately $6 billion in paper profits so far in October, as fears over unsustainable debt financing for AI buildouts triggered a selloff. Short interest in companies such as CoreWeave, IREN, Nebius Group, Applied Digital, and Core Scientific ranged from about 20% to 26% of their free float, according to data analytics firm ORTEX. CoreWeave's shares have fallen nearly 30% this month, leading to about $1.7 billion in paper profits for short sellers. Nebius saw its short interest climb to 20% of free float, with investors booking $2.94 billion in paper profits for October, though they have a year-to-date paper loss of $3.33 billion. Short sellers of IREN and Applied Digital have collectively gained over $1.2 billion this month, while Core Scientific short sellers clocked $115 million in profits. In total, around $17 billion of stock across these five companies is currently sold short, with borrowing costs remaining low.