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October was another strong month for stocks, particularly technology stocks, as the Nasdaq Composite rose nearly 5%. It also marked a continued surge in stock valuations, as the price-to-earnings ratios of Nasdaq and S&P 500 rose to historically high levels.

That — along with U.S.–China trade friction, the government shutdown, and macroeconomic concerns — is a big reason why investors were shorting technology stocks last month, according to the October Shortside Crowdedness Report by Hazeltree, a leading provider of treasury and liquidity management for alternative asset managers.

Overall, 23% of short positions in October were for tech stocks, a 17% increase over September. Further, five of the top 10 most shorted large cap stocks in October were from the technology sector, including Palo Alto Networks (PANW), International Business Machines (IBM), Qualcomm (QCOM), Cloudflare (NET) and Super Micro Computer (SMCI).

“We saw Palo Alto Networks and IBM again vying for the top spot in the Americas, while the re-entry of Super Micro highlights continued skepticism toward high-valuation technology names—even those central to AI and cybersecurity narratives,” Tim Smith, managing director, data insights, at Hazeltree, said. “Qualcomm also climbed into the large-cap crowded-short list as rare-earth supply chains tightened during U.S.–China frictions; recent steps to temporarily ease export controls have helped stabilize conditions.”

Here are the 10 most shorted large caps and their crowdedness scores, based on a scale of 1-99, with 99 representing the most shorting activity by fund managers.

• Palo Alto Networks (PANW): 99
• IBM (IBM): 97
• Live Nation (LYV): 91
• Qualcomm (QCOM): 91
• Cloudflare (NET): 91
• Marriott (MAR): 88
• Super Micro Computer (SMCI): 88
• Mondelez International (MDLZ): 85
• Charter Communications (CHTR): 85
• Ingersoll Rand (IR): 85

Charter had the highest institutional supply utilization percentage at 44.77%.

Campbell’s, Hertz, and Allegiant

The Hazeltree report also noted that consumer sectors accounted for 41% of global short activity, up 15% from September.

Among large caps, that was evident with names like Marriott, Mondelez, and Live Nation appearing on the top 10 list. But there were also some prominent consumer stocks in the list of most shorted midcap and small cap stocks.

“Across the report, short interest clustered around consumer-related names globally — suggesting hedge funds are using the consumer complex as a proxy for macro caution as growth slows and pricing power peaks,” Smith said.

Campbell’s (CPB) was the most shorted midcap stock with a score of 99, followed by Dropbox (DBX) and Crocs (CROX). Cheescake Factory had the highest ISU percentage at 52.28%.

Among small caps, Allegiant Travel (ALGT) and Hertz (HTZ) were the most shorted with scores of 99 each. Hertz also had the highest ISU percentage at 88.41%.

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