The S&P 500 makes the list of most shorted stocks and ETFs for the second straight month.
In the first quarter, the economy sputtered, with the gross domestic product (GDP) decreasing by 0.3%. Since then, the economy has been hit with higher tariffs and the uncertainty of where Trump’s tariffs go from here.
It has not gone unnoticed by hedge fund managers, as detailed in the May 2025 edition of Shortside Crowdedness Report produced by Hazeltree, a technology and data provider for the alternative asset management industry.
The report tracks the most crowded, or shorted, stocks on U.S. market, and typically lends insight into what fund managers are seeing. The May report features many consumer and lifestyle stocks among the most shorted, which could indicate growing fears of recession or reduction in consumer spending. When hedge funds short a stock, it typically means the stock is overvalued or facing a headwind that would cause the price to temporarily drop.
“We witnessed an extension of consumer spending taking root across the globe as major lifestyle brands shot to the top of Hazeltree’s most crowded shorts across companies focused on entertainment, energy, fashion, travel, electronics, and more,” Tim Smith, managing director of data insights at Hazeltree, said. “In the Americas, we also noticed large-cap stocks turning back toward tech, with five out of the most crowded shorts from four in April.”
From Live Nation to the S&P 500
The most crowded, or shorted, large cap stock in May was Live Nation (NYSE:LYV), the event and concert promoter. It had a crowdedness score of 99 out of 100, and a higher score means more funds are shorting it. Live Nation was tied atop the list along with Chevron (NYSE:CVX), which also had a score of 99.
Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI), the server and data storage manufacturer, was next with a score of 97. Supermicro also had the highest institutional supply utilization rate at 48%, which represents the percentage of the institutional investors’ supply of a security that is being lent out. Said differently, it is an indicator of how “hot” a security for shorting.
Hotelier Marriott (NASDAQ:MAR) and cable company Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) were next with scores 91, placing three consumer or lifestyle brands among the top five.
Also among the top 10 were a slew of technology stocks including IBM (NYSE:IBM), Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS), Dell (NYSE:DELL), and CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) – all with scores of 88.
Rounding out the top 10 is the S&P 500 – via the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY). This is the second month in a row that the S&P 500 has been on the list. It could reveal that hedge fund managers still see the S&P 500 as overvalued and may indicate that they see another correction coming.
MARA Holdings Makes the List of Midcaps
The shortest midcap stock in May was Albemarle (NYSE:ALB), a chemical company that produces lithium, which is widely used in technology devices. Albemarle had a score of 99.
Crypto mining stock MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) was also on the list with a score of 84. Further, it had the highest institutional supply utilization rate among midcaps at 72.5%.
“Mid-cap company MARA Holdings – the digital asset crypto mining company – also is a noteworthy standout and had an unusually high institutional supply utilization at 72.48% with the increasing investing fervor around Bitcoin,” said Smith.
Among small cap stocks, clothing retailer Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) was the most shorted security with a score of 99. PureCycle Technologies (NASDAQ:PCT) had the highest institutional supply utilization at 83.5%. It also had a crowdedness score of 94.