Solar energy stocks have been a popular target for short sellers this year, leading to nearly $1 billion in paper profits today, according to Ihor Dusaniwsky of S3 Partners.
He looked at a collection of twenty green energy stocks, including Enphase Energy Inc. and First Solar Inc., and calculated that the short sellers were up $946 million in total mark-to-market gains as of noon. Solar energy and other sustainable names have been some of the stock market’s biggest losers following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, with Enphase’s shares falling more than 17% and First Solar’s shares falling more than 11%.
“We should see more short selling in this sector as President Trump’s agenda takes shape in the coming months,” wrote Dusaniwsky, director of predictive analytics at S3. “If there are significant cuts to the Inflation Reduction Act and subsidies to this sector are curtailed, we should expect reduced growth and expansion of these stocks, along with lower future revenue and earnings expectations.”