Hedge funds have had a great year picking stocks. But there's a dark underbelly to their investment activity that involves betting on companies to falter.
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GOLDMAN SACHS: Hedge funds are betting billions that these 18 stocks are doomed
Here's a list of the 18 hedge fund shorts that have the highest dollar value of short interest outstanding.
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To see which stocks bear the biggest burden of hedge fund shorts, the equity strategy team at Goldman Sachs analyzes 821 funds that hold a combined $1.9 trillion in gross equity positions, then identifies the stocks that have the highest dollar value of short interest outstanding.
Known as the Very Important Short Position list, the basket excludes companies in Goldman's hedge fund VIP index, as well as stocks with more than 10% of float-adjusted shares held short. It also has a large-cap bias, with a median market capitalization of $71 billion, compared with $20 billion for the S&P 500.
Here's a list of the 18 stocks in the index that have the highest level of short interest:
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18. Target
Subsector: General merchandise stores
Total return year-to-date: -21%
Value of short interest: $1.9 billion
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17. Boeing
Subsector: Aerospace & defense
Total return year-to-date: 16%
Value of short interest: $2 billion
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16. Lam Research
Subsector: Semiconductor equipment
Total return year-to-date: 42%
Value of short interest: $2 billion
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15. Procter & Gamble
Subsector: Household products
Total return year-to-date: 4%
Value of short interest: $2 billion
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14. Simon Property Group
Subsector: Retail REITs
Total return year-to-date: -12%
Value of short interest: $2 billion
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13. CVS Health
Subsector: Drug retail
Total return year-to-date: -2%
Value of short interest: $2 billion
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12. Express Scripts
Subsector: Healthcare services
Total return year-to-date: -14%
Value of short interest: $2 billion
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11. Chevron
Subsector: Integrated oil & gas
Total return year-to-date: -9%
Value of short interest: $2.1 billion
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10. AbbVie
Subsector: Biotechnology
Total return year-to-date: 7%
Value of short interest: $2.2 billion
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9. Intuitive Surgical
Subsector: Healthcare equipment
Total return year-to-date: 36%
Value of short interest: $2.2 billion
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8. Caterpillar
Subsector: Construction machinery & heavy trucks
Total return year-to-date: 10%
Value of short interest: $2.2 billion
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7. ExxonMobil
Subsector: Integrated oil & gas
Total return year-to-date: -8%
Value of short interest: $2.3 billion
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6. General Electric
Subsector: Industrial conglomerates
Total return year-to-date: -12%
Value of short interest: $2.7 billion
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5. Walmart
Subsector: Hypermarkets & supercenters
Total return year-to-date: 14%
Value of short interest: $2.7 billion
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4. Nvidia
Subsector: Semiconductors
Total return year-to-date: 25%
Value of short interest: $3 billion
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3. IBM
Subsector: IT consulting & other services
Total return year-to-date: -8%
Value of short interest: $3 billion
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2. Intel
Subsector: Semiconductors
Total return year-to-date: -1%
Value of short interest: $3.3 billion
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1. AT&T
Subsector: Integrated telecommunications services
Total return year-to-date: -9%
Value of short interest: $5.3 billion
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