Michael Saylor's MSTR Becomes World's Most Shorted Stock - But Why Does Tom Lee Think This Is A Bullish Signal For Bitcoin?

Wall Street analyst Tom Lee interpreted the surge in short interest for Strategy Inc. (NASDAQ:MSTR) as a contrarian bullish signal on Tuesday.

BTC Bottom Is Here?

In an X post, Lee stated that when a stock becomes a “consensus” short, it often signifies a crowded trade. This, he argued, could lead to the stock rallying even on “bad news” as the negative impact is already priced in.

Lee’s comments came in response to Strategy becoming the most shorted large-cap U.S. stock as investors piled into bets against the firm’s Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) playbook.

Strategy Becomes Most Shorted Stock

Among stocks valued at over $25 billion, Strategy topped the list, with 14% of the company’s publicly available shares short, according to data compiled by Goldman Sachs. Wall Street cryptocurrency giant Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) was not far behind, coming in fourth at 11% short interest.

Renowned investor Steve Eisman, famed for his role in predicting the 2008 financial crisis, also disclosed he’s shorted Strategy stock.

Will The Tide Turn?

The surge in bearish bets comes as the company sits on unrealized losses of nearly $7 billion on Bitcoin, the asset central to its business model.

The stock has tumbled more than 63% over the last six months, worse than Bitcoin’s decline in the same period.​

Despite the drawdown, Saylor remains optimistic about Bitcoin’s long-term potential. Last week, he said that the ongoing “crypto winter” feels milder than past ones and will soon give way to a spring followed by a “glorious summer.”

Notably, all three of the most recent analyst ratings for MSTR came in bullish, with an average price target of $254, more than twice the current levels.

Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $65,948.87, up 3.35% over the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

MSTR shares fell 0.17% in after-hours trading after closing 0.73% higher at $124.61 during Monday's regular trading session.

The stock shows weak price momentum across the short-, medium-, and long-term, earning a very low Momentum score in Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

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