Short sellers make $6B in paper profits betting against neoclouds

Short sellers have capitalized on October’s selloff in AI infrastructure stocks, with bearish bets against five U.S. data center and neocloud companies generating roughly $6B in paper gains so far this month.

The downturn has intensified scrutiny of companies borrowing heavily to expand computing capacity for artificial intelligence. CoreWeave (CRWV), IREN (IREN), Nebius Group (NBIS), Applied Digital (APLD), and Core Scientific (CORZ) have all attracted substantial short positions, ranging from about 20% to 26% ​of their free float, Reuters reported, citing ORTEX data.

Collectively, about $17B in stock across the five companies is sold short, and borrowing remains cheap for all of them, ORTEX said.

Nebius (NBIS) has delivered the biggest reported monthly paper profits for short sellers among the group, at $2.94B. However, those positions remain underwater by $3.33B for the year, illustrating how quickly the trade has shifted. Short interest in the company has risen to 20% of its free float, compared with 15.4% at the start of 2026.

CoreWeave (CRWV) has also become a major target. Its shares have dropped over 35% this month, generating close to $1.7B in paper profits for short sellers. Short interest now stands at 23.7% of its free float, up from 19.6% at the beginning of October.

Bears betting against IREN (IREN) and Applied Digital (APLD) have earned more than $1.2B combined this month, while short positions in Core Scientific (CORZ) have produced another $115M. Core Scientific’s short interest stands at 23.1% of its free float.