Hello,

Welcome to our flagship newsletter, MarketBeat Daily Ratings.

We'll deliver the latest "Buy" and "Sell" ratings from Wall Street's top-rated analysts directly to your inbox each morning.

But first, we need you to do two quick things:

1. Hit reply, and send a simple "Yes." Just one word. This tells Google (and other emails providers) that you actually want to get our newsletter.

2. After that, this link to confirm your subscription. That will tell us that you received our welcome email and that we should start sending your daily report. 

Confirm your subscription here.

After you have completed these two steps, we would like to gift you a free copy of one of our most popular investing reports: 7 Stocks to Buy and Hold Forever. You can download the report with this link.

Thank you again for subscribing. We look forward to being an important part of your investing journey

Matthew Paulson
Founder and CEO, MarketBeat.

P.S. If you didn’t intend to subscribe, no problem—you can unsubscribe with this link.

(ARReply-161)

Bearish Pressure Is Building Around These 3 Stocks

By Jessica Mitacek. Publication Date: 8/3/2026.

For the past three years, the market has reached a series of record highs as the AI trade continued to push the major indices higher. But amid that exponential growth, bearish bets have begun to increase, and now they appear to be paying off.

The current sell-off has had an adverse and outsized impact on chipmakers and Magnificent Seven stocks. Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), for instance, is down around 30% year-to-date (YTD), including a decline of nearly 27% in July. Meanwhile, South Korean semiconductor manufacturer SK hynix (NASDAQ: SKHY) has slid about 14% since its July 10 Nasdaq listing.

On May 21, Washington broke its own rule (Ad)

On May 21, 2026, a federal bank's board voted unanimously to lend roughly 3 billion dollars toward a gold mine on American soil, breaking decades of precedent. Congress raised no objections.

The deposit holds a second metal that China has banned from export to the U.S., and it's the only domestic reserve of its kind. Company filings cite direct partnership with the Department of War, a phrase rarely seen in gold mining disclosures.

See the full details behind this rare gold and critical metal project

Hims & Hers Health (NYSE: HIMS) and QXO (NYSE: QXO) illustrate the short-selling side of that bearish shift, with both ranking among the market’s most heavily shorted stocks. KLA (NASDAQ: KLAC) represents a different setup: The semiconductor equipment maker has faced a sharp, valuation-driven sell-off amid concerns about chip-industry capital spending and the durability of AI demand.

Together, the three companies show how bearish pressure can build through very different channels—and why investors need to distinguish between a crowded short trade and a broader reset in expectations.

High-Beta Hims & Hers Health Has Become a Short-Seller Target

Short sellers have made healthcare provider Hims & Hers Health one of the market’s most heavily shorted stocks.

Sixty-one point four million shares were sold short, representing 30% of the company’s public float, or about $2.29 billion, as of July 15.

On July 29, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Utah, and California sued Hims & Hers over alleged privacy, billing, and cancellation practices, adding a new legal and regulatory risk.

In May, the company announced a $350 million private offering of convertible senior notes due June 1, 2032. The offering stoked fears of shareholder dilution, although the company entered capped-call transactions intended to reduce potential dilution. Much of the offering is earmarked for the Eucalyptus acquisition, but more broadly, it supports the company’s long-term international expansion plan.

Hims & Hers missed analyst expectations for both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) in the first quarter, and the company’s elevated customer acquisition costs have increased the risk of margin compression, spooking some investors.

Over the past year, insider selling has dwarfed buying, totaling about $87 million compared with just $1.17 million in purchases.

But there have been tailwinds, too.

From avoiding a lawsuit with Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) and agreeing to distribute the Danish pharmaceutical company’s flagship GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, to the $1.15 billion acquisition of Australian telehealth platform Eucalyptus, the company has positioned itself to deliver long-term shareholder value.

The stock is up around 100% from its YTD low in late February.

For buy-and-hold investors who are focused on the bigger picture and able to stomach the stock’s 2.35 beta, institutional ownership remains strong, while HIMS’ financial health has been in TradeSmith’s Green Zone for more than four months. The average 12-month price target also suggests about 13% potential upside from current prices.

QXO’s Losses and Valuation Draw Heavy Short Interest

Unlike the other two stocks on this list, QXO (NYSE: QXO) is not a victim of its own success.

Shares are down nearly 31% YTD and nearly 94% from their five-year high in June 2024.

The company distributes and installs building products, serving an estimated $800 billion market.

Its operations include roofing, insulation, lumber, waterproofing products and other construction materials.

QXO has become a target for short sellers largely because of a disconnect between its valuation and financial performance.

In the first quarter, the company’s net loss grew to $227 million, marking the fourth consecutive quarter in which it operated at a loss. On an annualized basis, QXO has averaged a net loss of more than $50 million over the past five years, with the company turning a profit in just one of those years: $28 million in 2024.

Current short interest stands at nearly 25% of the float, or about 106 million shares out of the 725.3 million shares outstanding.

But a bottom may be in before short sellers are able to exit their positions. Short interest is down more than 35% month over month, and analysts’ average 12-month price target suggests as much as 120% potential upside. The stock has a Moderate Buy rating.

KLA Gets Caught Up in the Semiconductor Sell-off

KLA fits squarely into the current AI sell-off. But its market cap of nearly $240 billion pales in comparison to those of the hyperscalers.

The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations.

Over the past year, the stock is up nearly 107%, following a remarkable streak of earnings beats.

But that hasn’t prevented the company from being caught up in the rotation out of semiconductor names.

Since hitting its all-time high on June 30, KLAC is down nearly 40%. Unlike Hims & Hers and QXO, however, KLA’s bearish pressure has primarily manifested as a steep share-price decline rather than unusually elevated short interest.

Like its larger counterparts, KLA has suffered from overvaluation concerns and a subsequent exodus of investors hedging against a cyclical slowdown in semiconductor companies, fueled by perceptions of unsustainable AI spending. That capital spending is KLA’s lifeblood, and if it is curtailed, it could adversely affect the company’s share price.

But KLA dominates its niche. The company holds between 50% and 60% of the wafer inspection market and between 40% and 50% of the metrology equipment market. Despite the sharp sell-off, institutional ownership remains robust at nearly 87%, with inflows of more than $495 million surpassing outflows of just over $70 million over the past year. While gains may slow, analysts see more than 22% potential upside over the next 12 months.