Uber Bears has already taken 70% of the shares available for short sale

(Bloomberg) – You want to bet on the losses of Uber Technologies Inc.? The number of actions available to do this starts to decrease.

The stimulus company has been public for less than a month, but nearly 70% of the shares that can be loaned for short sale have already been purchased, according to data compiled by IHS Markit. This represents a 50% increase on May 15th, a few days after Uber's commercial debut.

Uber, the biggest IPO of the year, started on a weak foundation. Worries range from the magnitude of the price rises market to the company's ability to opt for self-driving cars to investor appetite for riskier badets in a context of increasing trade contraction between China and China . The shares fell 9% from their offer price of $ 45.

Although growing short-term interest has not yet weighed heavily on the cost of borrowing the stock, fees will likely start to fall if the number of lendable shares available decreases much further, according to Samuel Pierson, director of Securities Finance at IHS Markit. "The use of lending shares of up to 70% usually coincides with a marginal increase in borrowing costs," he said by e-mail. "Once the use reaches 80% to 90%, the costs of borrowing often become a significant consideration for short sellers."

The cost of borrowing the shares of its competitor, Lyft Inc., represents a potential embarrbadment. With over 80% of Lyft's loaned shares, the cost of borrowing shares for new short films hovers around 35% on an annual basis. , Show IHS Markit data. This compares to about 1% to 2% for Uber, although its float is about 5.5 times larger, which partly explains the difference. The cost of borrowing for Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. is about 0.25% to 0.5%.

While Uber's decline after the start is less than half that of Lyft, there has been a larger increase in short-term interest, especially last week. Last week, Uber's short-term interest more than doubled to 36 million shares, while Lyft's interest went from 21.7 million to 23 million, according to data compiled by IHS Markit.

This does not correspond to the badysts' calls on the sell side. Four of the people covering Uber recommend buying the shares, while five say keep and none recommend selling. Lyft has 16 purchase recommendations, 7 bookings and 2 sales.

To contact the reporter about this story: Elena Popina in New York at [email protected]

To contact the makers of this story: Brad Olesen at [email protected], Morwenna Coniam, Richard Richtmyer

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