Overview

• Since an Aug. 12 record, shares have fallen about 17% across six sessions, marking the steepest pullback since April and the worst run in the S&P 500 over that span.
• S3 Partners estimates the drop produced roughly $1.6 billion in profits for bearish bets, though shorts still face about $4.5 billion in year-to-date paper losses.
• Short interest has fallen to around 2.5% of float from nearly 5% a year ago, with S3 noting a recent rebuild of roughly 10 million shares since June.
• Citron Research argues the stock is detached from fundamentals and says applying OpenAI’s price-to-sales multiple would imply a valuation near $40 per share.
• The decline is unfolding during a broader rotation out of expensive tech, Palantir remains the S&P 500’s top gainer this year at about 106%, and the company has not commented.