Short sellers pocket $6 billion as neoclouds slide on AI debt fears
CRWV•Investors betting against U.S. neocloud and data center companies made $6 billion in paper profits so far in October as concerns about debt-funded AI expansion sparked a selloff. About $17 billion of stock across CoreWeave, IREN, Nebius Group, Applied Digital and Core Scientific is currently sold short.
1. Short interest rises
Short interest in CoreWeave, IREN, Nebius Group, Applied Digital and Core Scientific ranged from about 20% to 26% of free float, ORTEX data showed. CoreWeave short interest was 23.7%, up from 19.6% at the start of the month, while Nebius short interest rose to 20% from 15.4% at the start of 2026.
2. Paper gains mount
Short sellers made close to $1.7 billion in paper profits on CoreWeave so far this month after its shares fell almost 30%. Investors betting against Nebius made $2.94 billion in paper profits in October, though they had a $3.33 billion paper loss year-to-date. Short sellers of IREN and Applied Digital made more than $1.2 billion combined, while those betting against Core Scientific gained $115 million.
3. Borrowing remains cheap
About $17 billion of stock across the five companies is currently sold short, and borrowing remains cheap for all of them, ORTEX said.
