ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) has overtaken Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) as the most shorted large-cap stock in the S&P 500 in October, according to data from HazelTree. This development ends Tesla's four-month reign in the top position. The list of the three most shorted stocks in the large-cap sector now includes ExxonMobil, Tesla, and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).
HazelTree uses a "Crowdedness Score" from 1 to 99 to rank these short bets. ExxonMobil and Tesla scored 99 and 97, respectively, while other high scorers included Apple (94), Charter Communications (NASDAQ:CHTR) (91), and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) (91). In the mid-cap sector, SOFI Technologies led with a score of 99, followed by American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) and EV maker Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID) both at 92.
The firm also monitors the percentage of a stock's institutional supply that is loaned to short sellers. Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) Automotive led this category with 37%, significantly more than ExxonMobil's 3.13% and Tesla's 2.67%.
Despite facing challenges such as uncertain demand for electric vehicles and stiff competition leading to price cuts on its vehicles this year, Tesla has seen a significant increase of 76% in its share price year-to-date. On the other hand, ExxonMobil has experienced a decline of about 6% over the same period.
Other stocks that saw considerable short interest included Rivian, SNAP, Ford (NYSE:F), and AirBnB (NASDAQ:ABNB).
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