stockwatch.com Post says Air Canada feeling heat from short sellers
2024-07-05 09:27 ET - In the News
The Financial Post reports in its Friday edition that short sellers are targeting Air Canada as investors expect rising operational costs and weaker postpandemic consumer demand to weigh on growth. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says that Air Canada's short interest as a percentage of float stood at nearly 19 per cent in early July, according to financial data firm S3 Partners LLC. This is more than double the 7.4-per-cent rate a year earlier, signalling that investors expect shares to come under further pressure as Canadians allocate more of their pay to cover higher costs of living. It is also the highest rate recorded since December, 2021, when additional COVID-19 travel restrictions were imposed, sending the rate to nearly 21 per cent. Shares of the Canadian airline operator are trading 4.7 per cent lower this year as economic and industry headwinds have taken their toll. The stock hit a high of around $50 in November, 2019. "Canadian investors are concerned about a slowing Canadian economy and a potential increase in pilot pay once they negotiate their contract," TD Cowen analyst Helane Becker said a statement to Bloomberg. Air Canada has yet to work out a new labour agreement with its more than 5,000 pilots.