Cheetah Mobile Inc. (NYSE:CMCM) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest surged 79.7% in March to 53,953 shares (about 0.2% of float), leaving a days-to-cover of 1.3 based on average daily volume.
• Hedge funds repositioned: Jane Street boosted its stake 852.7% to 30,142 shares and Goldman Sachs increased holdings by 17.5%, yet institutional ownership remains low at 0.41%.
• Cheetah Mobile has a small market cap (~$167.3M) and a negative P/E (-4.41), and analyst sentiment is bearish with an average rating of "Sell" (Weiss reiterated a "sell (d-)").

Cheetah Mobile Inc. (NYSE:CMCM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 53,953 shares, an increase of 79.7% from the March 15th total of 30,025 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 40,639 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheetah Mobile

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Cheetah Mobile by 852.7% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 30,142 shares of the software maker's stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 26,978 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cheetah Mobile by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 23,131 shares of the software maker's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,443 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cheetah Mobile during the 3rd quarter worth about $94,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cheetah Mobile during the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Cheetah Mobile Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Cheetah Mobile stock opened at $5.52 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.25 million, a P/E ratio of -4.41 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.83. Cheetah Mobile has a 12-month low of $3.30 and a 12-month high of $9.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cheetah Mobile in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Cheetah Mobile has an average rating of "Sell".

About Cheetah Mobile

Cheetah Mobile Inc operates as a mobile internet company primarily focused on developing and distributing utility and entertainment applications for smartphones and tablets. Its portfolio includes well-known security and optimization products such as Clean Master, Security Master and Battery Doctor, alongside consumer-oriented offerings in mobile gaming and content discovery. The company's software solutions are designed to enhance device performance, improve privacy protection and deliver engaging digital experiences for end users.

Founded as the mobile internet division of Kingsoft in 2010, Cheetah Mobile spun off as an independent, publicly traded company in late 2014.

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