Wall Street Vs. Zuckerberg: Meta Shorts Dwarf Microsoft And Palantir Combined

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms META has quietly become a favorite target for short sellers, despite the company reporting strong second-quarter financial results.What Happened: More than $11 billion has been bet against Meta by increased short interest in the stock this year.According to a tweet from CNBC's Kristina Partsinevelos, Meta's short interest has climbed by 75% in 2025 thanks to the increase short interest from new investors and a 30% year-to-date gain for Meta stock.The data, which comes from S3 Partners, shows Meta as the stock with the highest gain in short interest at $11.0 billion, which is more than the next five companies combined.The $11.0 billion is also more than double the 2025 short interest in Palantir Technologies PLTR and Microsoft Corporation MSFT combined.For comparison, the short interest gain in 2025 is $2.8 billion for Palantir and $2.2 billion for Microsoft. Bets against Palantir and Microsoft come with both stocks up year-to-date in 2025, including a huge 110% gain for Palantir.Read Also: As Meta Faces AI Scrutiny, Mounting Regulatory Risk Overshadows Strong Earnings And Pushes Stock LowerWhy It's Important: The increase in short interest in Meta could be for many reasons. Partsinevelos' tweet links the increase to investor betting against Meta's AI and metaverse spending and the negative impact of tariffs and slowing growth could have on the company's stock.Pressure on advertising rates could be another factor that sends shares lower, especially after the year-to-date gains.Meta reported its second-quarter financial results in July. Without any negative catalysts between now and the end of October, short sellers may have to wait until the third-quarter results in late October to see shares take a turn down if the report is unfavorable.Meta has beaten analyst estimates for earnings per share in 10 consecutive quarters and revenue estimates in 13 straight quarters.The company's consistent growth has helped the stock performance in recent years.With more investors betting against the company, the likelihood is that the company's aggressive spending on new hires in the AI field and the continued spending on the metaverse could be negatives for the long term and hurt margins going forward.META Price Action: Meta Platforms stock is down 2% to $752.27 on Tuesday versus a 52-week trading range of $479.80 to $796.25. Meta stock is up 25.6% year-to-date in 2025. Elon Musk Sends Warning To Tesla Short Sellers: ‘They Will Be Obliterated’ Photo: Shutterstock