The Magnificent 7 drove a $36 billion loss for short sellers as stocks soared after tariff chaos
The biggest tech names have been the source of most of the pain for short bets.
S3 Partners said shorting stocks in 2025 has been a "relative coin flip," with 48% of short bets being unprofitable.
It's been a rough stretch for short-sellers.
Investors betting againt US stocks saw the market value of their short positions decline by $257 billion from April 8 to May 20, data from S3 Partners shows.
Of that total, the Magnificent Seven tech stocks drove $35.8 billion in the weeks since the stock market embarked on a rapid rebound from the tariff-induced April lows.
S3 said that among the Manificent Seven group, short positions in Tesla, Nvidia, and Microsoft accounted for the steepest market value losses over the 42-day period.
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Tesla, which drove the steepest losses for short-sellers, has seen its stock price soar 54% since hitting a low on April 8. Investors shorting Elon Musk's carmaker are down $9.7 billion in mark-to-market losses since April 8.
Nvidia, which saw the largest average short interest among investors over the timeframe, has seen its stock climb 38% since April 8. Short positions against the stock are down $9.6 billion in mark-to-market losses. Microsoft, which has rallied 29% since April 8, has driven $5.1 billion of losses for short-sellers.
"Shorts felt like Marie Antoinette after Bastille Day when looking at their post-Liberation Day profit & loss statements," Ihor Dusaniwsky, the managing director of predictive analysis at the firm, wrote in the report. "Three out of every four short positions were unprofitable and short sellers were crowded into these trades with 95% of every dollar shorted on the losing side."
It's been a difficult year for short-sellers, partly due to the volatility stemming from President Donald Trump's tariffs. Dusaniwsky wrote that shorting stocks. in2025 has amounted to a "relative coin flip," with 48% of all short positions unprofitable in the year.
The stock market weathered a historic sell-off the week Trump announced his Liberation Day tariffs, but it has surged higher since, Major indexes are now up for the year.
The Magnificent Seven has outperformed the broader market. The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF is up 28% since April 8, compared to the S&P 500's 17% gain in that time.
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