Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest for Nova Ltd. increased by 26.0% in August, reaching a total of 1,890,000 shares sold short, which accounts for 6.5% of its stock.
• Institutional investors hold 82.99% of Nova's stock, with significant increases in positions from firms like Amundi and Bank of New York Mellon Corp during the first quarter.
• Nova reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.20 per share, beating analysts' estimates, and set its guidance for Q3 2025 between 2.020 and 2.220 EPS.

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,890,000 shares, a growth of 26.0% from the August 15th total of 1,500,000 shares. Approximately 6.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 327,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 327,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days. Approximately 6.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nova

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVMI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Nova by 13.8% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 306 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 51.9% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 164 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nova by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,926 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Nova by 8.3% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 928 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Nova by 21.3% during the second quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 456 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.99% of the company's stock.

Nova Stock Up 4.9%

NVMI traded up $14.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $310.84. 592,106 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 493,086. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.72. The company's fifty day moving average price is $269.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.57. Nova has a 52-week low of $153.99 and a 52-week high of $311.98.

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $219.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.95 million. Nova had a net margin of 29.10% and a return on equity of 24.36%. The business's revenue was up 40.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. Nova has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.220 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nova will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVMI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $300.00 price target (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Nova in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Nova from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nova presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $282.50.

Nova Company Profile

Nova Ltd. designs, develops, produces, and sells process control systems used in the manufacture of semiconductors in Israel, Taiwan, the United States, China, Korea, and internationally. Its product portfolio includes a set of metrology platforms for dimensional, films, and materials and chemical metrology measurements for process control for various semiconductor manufacturing process steps, including lithography, etch, chemical mechanical planarization, deposition, electrochemical plating, and advanced packaging.