LIVE MARKETS-Short sellers count millions in profits on Palantir's recent slide

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SHORT SELLERS COUNT MILLIONS IN PROFITS ON PALANTIR'S RECENT SLIDE

Investors betting against Palantir Technologies PLTR.O raked in bumper profits in the last six sessions as the data analytics and defense software firm's stock came off its all-time highs amid a broader move away from technology stocks.

Short sellers have pocketed nearly $2.6 billion combined from August 13 to August 20, according to data analytics firm Ortex. Palantir's stock fell close to 16.7% during the period.

On Tuesday alone, short sellers pocketed $906 million in profits, the second biggest single-day move on record, only behind $920 million seen back in February. The stock closed 9.4% down on Tuesday.

Palantir shares have been under pressure of late because of several factors, one of them being a pullback in U.S. tech stocks.

Tech stocks broadly have suffered this week as investors moved out of the heavyweight names including Nvidia NVDA.O and Palantir, which drove much of the recovery from Wall Street's April lows. The broader S&P 500 information technology sector .SPLRCT has declined more than 2% so far this week.

Broader markets have traded with caution ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday.

Another factor which could be hitting Palantir's stock is a report from short seller Citron Research on Monday, which called for Palantir's stock to be valued at $40.

Palantir shares has more than doubled in value so far this year, last trading at 200.8 times forward earnings, above its five-year average of 98.

On Thursday, the stock was down 0.2% at $155.7, on pace to extend its string of losses to a seventh straight day, if losses hold.

(Shashwat Chauhan)

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