Short Interest Changes in Some of the Social Media Stocks including Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)

Towards the end of September, the largest upswings in the short interest were observed for the two social media leaders –Pandora Media Inc (NASDAQ: ZNGA) and Facebook Inc. (NYSE:FB). However, it was noticed that many shortsellers withdrew from eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY). During the last half of September, shares short increased in Twitter, Groupon, LinkedIn and Shutterfly. In the same period, shortsellers withdrew from other companies like MeetMe, Google, Angie’s List and Yelp.

It is also worth mentioning that some of the shares for U.S.-Listed companies were traded in a relatively lower volume than those of some social media online companies of China. These companies include Renren, Sohu.com, Weibo, Sina and YY. These companies met an increase in the beginning of the month; meanwhile the short interest in Youku Todou and Baidu fell.

The short interest in eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) decreased by over 11%. This was worth over 20.52 million shares. This was more than the gain that was recaptured by the company in the period before. For the company, days to cover are over one. The market cap of eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) is in the neighborhood of $64.4 billion. The forecast for growth in earnings-per-share over long-term was reported 12%. The operating margin of the company is above the average operating margin for the industry. Unfortunately, the return on equity is not doing so well.

39 analysts follow this stock. Of them, 23 suggest that the shares must be bought while 12 rate the stock Strong Buy. The average price target of the analysts is about 15% over the current share cost. The share price increased over 11% in the settlement period of two weeks, but it has also fell behind over 8% since then.

Facebook Inc. (NYSE:FB)’s shares increased over 15% and reached around 42.88 million shares in the time period. This was the third period in a row in which the company’s short interest increased. The days to cover is one. It is forecasted that the company will soon report a revenue growth of over 34% in this year and the next year. The market capitalization of the company is $190 billion. The growth forecast of EPS is over 37% and the company has a very promising price-to-earnings ratio.

43 analysts surveyed the stock. Of these, 22 analysts recommend that the shares be bought while 14 rated the stock as Strong Buy. If the company moved to the average price target it would mean an increase of around 16% in Facebook Inc. (NYSE:FB)’s shares. If the company achieved the consensus target, it will have acquired an all-time high. During the period of short interest, stock gained 6% but most of this gain was lost when the stock fell below its 50-day moving average. Over the prior six months, the company stock performed better than Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) but lesser than Twitter.

Meanwhile Pandora Media Inc (NASDAQ: ZNGA)’s share prices fell by 6% and have continued to fall. The stock achieved its new 50-day low.