McDonald's (MCD) Short Interest Ratio & Short Volume

Short interest is the volume of McDonald's shares that have been sold short but have not yet been closed out or covered. As of April 15th, investors have sold 8,490,000 shares of MCD short. 1.18% of McDonald's' shares are currently sold short. Learn More on McDonald's' current short interest.

The short interest ratio, also known as the "days to cover ratio", is calculated by dividing the number of shares of a stock sold short divided by its average trading volume. A short interest ratio ranging between 1 and 4 generally indicates strong positive sentiment about a stock and a lack of short sellers. A short interest ratio of 10 or greater indicates strong pessimism about a stock. MCD shares currently have a short interest ratio of 3.0. Learn More on McDonald's's short interest ratio.

As of the most recent reporting period, the following institutional investors, funds, and major shareholders have reported short positions of McDonald's: Nomura Holdings Inc., Readystate Asset Management LP, Bluefin Capital Management LLC, Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P., Berkley W R Corp, BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd, Citadel Advisors LLC, Royal Bank of Canada, Verition Fund Management LLC, PEAK6 Investments LLC, Eisler Capital UK Ltd., Capstone Investment Advisors LLC, Allianz Asset Management GmbH, Mendel Money Management, IMC Chicago LLC, One River Asset Management LLC, Wells Fargo & Company MN, UBS Group AG, BNP Paribas Financial Markets, Concourse Financial Group Securities Inc., Genus Capital Management Inc., Private Advisor Group LLC, XR Securities LLC, Wolverine Asset Management LLC, and SpiderRock Advisors LLC. These positions are disclosed in Form 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Companies that have a short interest as a percentage of float below 10% indicates positive investor sentiment and few short sellers. Stocks with a short interest percentage above 10% is considered high, suggesting some investors are pessimistic about the stock. Companies with a short interest percentage of 20% or more indicates widespread negative sentiment. 1.18% of McDonald's' floating shares are currently sold short.

McDonald's saw a increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 8,490,000 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the previous total of 8,080,000 shares. Changes in short volume can be used to identify positive and negative investor sentiment. Investors that short sell a stock are betting that its price will decline in the future. An increase in short sale volume suggests bearish (negative) sentiment among investors. A decrease on short sale volume suggests bullish (positive) sentiment.

McDonald's currently has issued a total of 721,010,000 shares. Some of McDonald's' outstanding shares are available for trading, while others are subject to various restrictions. The public float, also referred to as floating shares or "the float", are shares that publicly owned, unrestricted and available to trade on the open market. McDonald's currently has a public float of 720,620,000 shares.

1.18% of McDonald's' shares are currently sold short. Here is how the short interest of companies in the sector of "retail/wholesale" compare to McDonald's: Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (3.19%), Alibaba Group Holding Limited (1.69%), PDD Holdings Inc. (2.16%), Lowe's Companies, Inc. (1.28%), Booking Holdings Inc. (2.24%), The TJX Companies, Inc. (0.83%), Starbucks Co. (1.62%), CVS Health Co. (1.43%), Costco Wholesale Co. (1.43%), Target Co. (1.66%),

As of the most recent reporting period, the following stocks had the largest short interest positions: T-Mobile US, Inc. ($3.70 billion), Occidental Petroleum Co. ($3.52 billion), Charter Communications, Inc. ($3.14 billion), General Motors ($2.68 billion), Coinbase Global, Inc. ($2.57 billion), Moderna, Inc. ($2.18 billion), Tractor Supply ($2.10 billion), Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ($1.91 billion), TC Energy Co. ($1.90 billion), and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. ($1.78 billion). View all of the most shorted stocks.

Short selling MCD is an investing strategy that aims to generate trading profit from McDonald's as its price is falling. MCD shares are trading down $1.90 today. To short a stock, an investor borrows shares, sells them and buys the shares back on the public market later to return it to the lender. Short sellers are betting that a stock will decline in price. If the stock does drop after selling, the short seller buys it back at a lower price and returns it to the lender. The difference between the sell price and the buy price is the trader's profit.

A short squeeze for McDonald's occurs when it has a large amount of short interest and its stock increases in price. This forces short sellers to cover their short interest positions by buying actual shares of MCD, which in turn drives the price of the stock up even further.

Short interest is typically published by a stock exchange once per month. However, NASDAQ publishes a report for U.S. stocks, including MCD, twice per month. The most recent reporting period available is April, 15 2024.