AI Cloud Dominates Skepticism in Public AI Markets
TL;DR. Short interest in public AI stocks has risen, with AI cloud and smaller software companies facing the most market pressure. - Median short interest increased 24% across segments in the last quarter, led by GPU data center businesses at 60% higher. - AI cloud and neocloud firms show the highest median short interest at 16.8% of float, indicating significant bearish bets. - Hyperscalers and Nvidia exhibit low short interest, while small to mid-cap AI companies like SoundHound AI are heavily shorted. - Skepticism centers on companies needing future capital or demand, not broad AI fatigue, emphasizing memory's criticality.
- Median short interest across software, semiconductor, neocloud, data center, and hyperscaler stocks rose 24% in the last quarter.
- GPU data center businesses and AI cloud/neocloud companies show the highest short interest, with 16.8% of float.
- Hyperscalers and NVIDIA have significantly lower short interest, around 1.1-1.2%.
- Smaller AI firms like SoundHound AI and C3.ai are heavily shorted (over 30%).
- Market skepticism targets companies reliant on future capital/demand rather than across the entire AI sector.
Sources
- The AI Skepticism Map — tomtunguz.com