Valens Semiconductor, Ltd. (NYSE:VLN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 162.7% to 671,669 shares as of April 15, equal to about 1.6% of the stock and a days-to-cover ratio of 1.3.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed after recent downgrades (Weiss, Wall Street Zen); the stock has one Buy and one Sell rating, an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $3.00.
• Shares trade near $1.79 with a market cap of ~$184 million; Valens reported Q4 EPS of ‑$0.04 (missed estimates), has negative margins/ROE, and analysts expect about ‑0.31 EPS for the current year.

Valens Semiconductor, Ltd. (NYSE:VLN - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 671,669 shares, an increase of 162.7% from the March 31st total of 255,679 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 525,498 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLN has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Valens Semiconductor from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Valens Semiconductor from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $3.00.

Valens Semiconductor Stock Up 8.2%

Shares of NYSE:VLN opened at $1.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $183.94 million, a P/E ratio of -5.76 and a beta of 0.39. Valens Semiconductor has a 12-month low of $1.10 and a 12-month high of $3.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.58.

Valens Semiconductor (NYSE:VLN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $19.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.78 million. Valens Semiconductor had a negative return on equity of 27.00% and a negative net margin of 44.72%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valens Semiconductor will post -0.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VLN. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Valens Semiconductor during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. HRT Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Valens Semiconductor in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. XTX Topco Ltd raised its position in shares of Valens Semiconductor by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 45,692 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 16,557 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Valens Semiconductor in the 4th quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Valens Semiconductor by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 98,084 shares of the company's stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 32,081 shares in the last quarter. 33.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Valens Semiconductor Company Profile

Valens Semiconductor Corp. is a provider of high-speed connectivity solutions, specializing in semiconductor chipsets that enable the transmission of uncompressed video, audio and data over common cabling such as twisted-pair and coax. The company's flagship technology, HDBaseT, supports the simultaneous delivery of multiple signal types—including HDMI, USB, Ethernet and power—over a single cable. This multi-service approach addresses the growing demands of both consumer electronics and automotive infotainment systems, where bandwidth, reliability and low latency are critical.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Israel, Valens maintains research and development operations across North America, Europe and Asia.

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