To The Moon

UnitedHealth Sinks 19%, Benefitting Short Sellers; USAR, CRWV See Higher Volume

$UnitedHealth(UNH)$   shares tumbled more than 19% in early trading Tuesday, benefiting short sellers, as the insurer's lower-than-expected fourth quarter revenue added to worries over the impact of almost zero increase on insurance rates for older patients.

Before the financial results were released Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its proposal for a 0.09% increase in rates for Medicare Advantage plans offered by companies including UnitedHealth for calendar year 2027. That could crimp profit for the health insurers which have already been saddled by rising medical costs for senior patients. 

Trading in borrowed UnitedHealth shares edged lower at 751,010 shares Monday, from 1.08 million shares Friday. Short volume declined before the string of bad news hit the wires, fueling the sell-off. 

$USA Rare Earth Inc.(USAR)$  's short volume more than quadrupled to 14.91 million shares Monday as the stock climbed 16%, bolstering the case for short sellers to buy back the shares they sold short and close out their wagers against the company that attracted a $1.6 billion funding commitment from the U.S. government. 

The stock has rallied more than 118% this month, raising the risk of a short squeeze. As of the end of December, the short interest, or the tally of shorted shares that haven't been closed, stood at 16.9 million shares, equal to about 12% of the outstanding shares that are available for trading. 

$Micron Technology(MU)$   short sellers eased up on their trading as the stock climbed more than 40% this year, raising the risk of a squeeze for those betting against the memory chip giant. 

Short volume declined to 2.39 million shares Monday, from 3.16 million shares in the previous session, exchange data showed. On Tuesday, the stock rose 5.2% after the semiconductor company announced a $24 billion 10-year investment on an advanced wafer fabrication facility in its NAND manufacturing complex in Singapore. 

Wafer output in the facility is expected to start in the second half of 2028, helping the company meet the growing demand for NAND driven by the rapid expansion of AI and data-centric applications, it said in a press release. 

$GameStop(GME)$   saw the biggest increase in short volume Monday, after hedge fund manager Michael Burry, known for his short on the housing market during the housing bubble, said in a Substack post that he has recently been buying the stock.

Short volume jumped almost five-fold to 6.47 million shares, from 1.37 million shares. The stock declined 1.7%, giving back some of Monday's gains. 

$CoreWeave (CRWV.US)$, $IonQ Inc (IONQ.US)$, $First Majestic Silver (AG.US)$, $Ford Motor (F.US)$, $B2Gold (BTG.US)$, $Hecla Mining (HL.US)$, $Blue Owl Capital (OWL.US)$ and $Vale SA (VALE.US)$ also saw higher short volume. 

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