Short fund participation rises across Amazon, Apple, Nvidia and Meta, while Tesla attracts more long holders and fewer short holders

Eighth paragraph, the first sentence should read: ...a decline of about 37% in its stock price during October... (instead of ...a decline of about 37% in its stock price during September...).

The updated release reads:

HEDGE FUNDS SHIFT POSITIONING IN OCTOBER AMID SHARP ROTATION OUT OF LARGE TECHNOLOGY STOCKS, DATA INSIGHTS REPORTS

Short fund participation rises across Amazon, Apple, Nvidia and Meta, while Tesla attracts more long holders and fewer short holders

Markets saw a sharp rotation, particularly in the largest technology stocks, with the Nasdaq Composite down about 5% and the S&P 500 down about 1%. Yet the broader market outside of tech performed well, with the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index gaining about 5%. Meanwhile, AI-related securities struggled with credit levels and private credit exposure to AI data center lending. Semiconductor names were significantly impacted, with the SOX index falling roughly 16%, according to Data Insights, the institutional hedge fund market intelligence platform and a division of Hazeltree.

The Data Insights Crowding Report October 2026 (formerly the Hazeltree Crowding Report) showed that within the Magnificent Seven, Tesla posted a moderate month-over-month increase in the number of funds holding long positions, while Nvidia and Alphabet posted modest gains. Apple declined moderately, while Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta were modestly lower or flat. Notable short-holder increases appeared in Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, and Meta, while Microsoft saw a moderate increase and Alphabet a modest one. Tesla stood out for being the only name where short holders declined.

The long-to-short fund count ratio for Apple fell to 0.65x, its low for the year and a third consecutive month below 1.0x, while Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft each hit their own 2026 lows on the same measure; Alphabet held just above parity at 1.02x.

Overall semiconductor sentiment turned less bullish in October, with the share of constituents exhibiting net long positioning slipping to 70.0%. Data Insights tracks activity through the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index™, which includes 30 of the largest U.S.-traded semiconductor companies.

Notable positioning trends included:

• Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) stood out as it flipped from long-biased to short-biased in October as measured by both the long-to-short fund count ratio (falling below parity, from 1.18x to 0.94x) and net long exposure (falling below 50%, from 77.9% to 44.4%).
• On the long side, crowding is now most pronounced in Nvidia, followed by Broadcom and Applied Materials.
• On the short side, Entegris is now the most crowded name, followed by ON Semiconductor and Advanced Micro Devices.

The Data Insights Crowding Report examines hedge fund long and short crowding across the Americas, EMEA and APAC during October 2026, based on Data Insights' analysis of anonymized data covering approximately 16,000 securities on its proprietary securities-finance platform, representing more than 700 global funds. It includes the ten most crowded regional long and short positions, broken out by large-, mid-, and small-cap categories.

Data Insights defines the crowding score as a relative metric that normalizes the number of funds in Hazeltree's community that are long or short a given security within a predefined group (by region and market cap) relative to its peers. When a fund goes long a stock, it generally means it either expects the stock's price to rise or is using the position to hedge its exposure to shorts. Conversely, when a fund shorts a stock, it generally means it either expects the stock's price to decline or is hedging its long exposure.

“The month of October ushered in a sharp rotation out of some of the largest technology stocks as some of the major indices fell, but in an interesting contrast non-technology sectors performed well,” commented Tim Smith, managing director, Data Insights, Hazeltree. “AI infrastructure builders experienced some struggles with credit levels, most notably CoreWeave, which saw its default insurance costs widen and its 2032 bonds yield close to 15%, approaching levels typically associated with distressed debt.”

Smith added, “CoreWeave also captured our attention with a drop in its long-to-short fund count ratio (from 0.60:1 in September to 0.53:1 in October) and a decline of about 37% in its stock price during October, including a 15% drop on October 14. Net long exposure, measured in quantity, also weakened from about 80% in the first four months of the year to 55.9% as of October.”

Further Highlights at the Single-Name Level

North America: Top Movers (>10% MoM Change in Fund Counts)

Long crowding increases

• Mid Cap: Kirby, Knight-Swift Transportation, Constellium, and Frontdoor
• Small Cap: BlackLine, Alamo Group, Horace Mann, and NPK
• Note: CTS in Small Cap saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in long fund counts.

Short crowding increases

• Large Cap: Kimberly-Clark
• Mid Cap: Dick’s Sporting Goods, Tenable, Hims & Hers, Freshpet, Wynn Resorts, and Vaxcyte
• Small Cap: The Greenbrier Companies and Ziff Davis
• Note: Aurora Innovation in Mid Cap saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in short fund counts.

EMEA: Top Movers (>10% MoM Change in Fund Counts)

Long crowding increases

• Large Cap: Rolls-Royce
• Mid Cap: Balfour Beatty, Softcat, Johnson Matthey, and Zegona
• Small Cap: Paragon Banking Group, Atalaya Mining, and Conduit Holdings
• Note: Glencore in Large Cap and Volex in Small Cap saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in long fund counts.

Short crowding increases

• Large Cap: Kering, BT Group, and Capgemini
• Mid Cap: Alstom and JD Sports
• Small Cap: Vistry Group, Thyssenkrupp, and Television Francaise 1 SA
• Note: Fastighets AB Balder in Mid Cap saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in short fund counts.

APAC: Top Movers (>10% MoM Change in Fund Counts)

Long crowding increases

• Large Cap: Renesas
• Mid Cap: Shimizu and Capricorn Metals
• Small Cap: Ki-Star Real Estate
• Note: Sumitomo Chemical in Mid Cap saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in long fund counts.

Short crowding increases

• Large Cap: Ibiden, Toyota, and Oriental Land Co
• Mid Cap: Harmonic Drive Systems and J Front Retailing
• Small Cap: DroneShield, Minerals 260, Furuya Metal, and Infomart
• Note: Taiyo Yuden in Mid Cap and Deep Yellow and Ping An Healthcare in Small Cap saw a >10% month‑over‑month decrease in short fund counts.

To view the Data Insights Crowding Report October 2026 and past reports, click here.

Methodology

The Data Insights Crowding Report is based on anonymized and aggregated positioning data from Hazeltree’s proprietary securities‑finance platform, which reflects trading activity from its hedge fund client base of more than 700 global funds. It calculates the crowding score by sector and region (Americas, EMEA, and APAC) and analyzes both long and short crowding during October 2026.

Note to editors: To be added to the distribution list for this report, please contact btanner@hazeltree.com.

About Data Insights - A division of Hazeltree

Data Insights, a division of Hazeltree, provides proprietary market intelligence derived from anonymized positioning data across a global community of hedge funds. Through its flagship Data Insights Crowding Report and other analytical offerings, the team delivers insights into long and short positioning, market trends and investor sentiment to help financial institutions, market participants and the media better understand evolving investment dynamics. For more information, visit https://hazeltree.com/product/insights.

About Hazeltree

Hazeltree is the leading provider of treasury and liquidity management and optimization solutions purpose-built for the alternative investment industry. Trusted by more than 700 investment firms managing over $4 trillion in assets, Hazeltree empowers hedge funds, private markets firms, and asset managers to enhance operational efficiency, reduce risk, and unlock alpha. Hazeltree’s cloud-based platform facilitates nearly $8 billion in daily transactions across more than 10,000 funds. By delivering seamless connectivity across counterparties and service providers, Hazeltree enables clients to optimize cash, credit facilities, margin, and fees—driving stronger returns and greater transparency across the investment lifecycle. Hazeltree is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Bournemouth, and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.hazeltree.com.

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