Corona antibody treatment ‘Lekkina’ [사진 제공 = 셀트리온]Short-selling investments are increasing again in Celltrion, which ranks first in the short-selling balance of the KOSPI. Although the share price has already halved from its high, it means that more and more investors are expecting the share price to decline further.
According to the stock market on the 1st, Celltrion’s short selling transaction amount on the day was 12.1 billion won, ranking third in the KOSPI after Hotel Shilla (54.8 billion won) and Doosan Heavy Industries (21.9 billion won).
Celltrion is considered one of the most popular short selling stocks in the domestic stock market. As of the 27th of last month, Celltrion’s short selling balance amounted to 880.3 billion won, ranking first in the KOSPI. This is more than the 2nd place HMM (605.4 billion won) and 4th place Kumho Petrochemical (237.6 billion won) combined.
Short selling is an investment method that borrows stocks, sells them on the stock exchange, and then buys them back on the stock exchange in the future to repay the borrowed stock. As the stock price declines to make a profit, it is common for the investment attractiveness to decrease and short selling decreases as the stock price decreases. In fact, Celltrion’s short selling transaction value ranked 29th on the KOSPI in August, 18th in September, and 7th in October.
However, recently, Celltrion’s short selling has been on the rise again. On the 29th of last month, a short sale of 40 billion won came out on Celltrion. This is equivalent to No. 1 in the overall KOSPI. Celltrion’s short selling transaction value was at a high of 10 to 40 billion won in early October, but from the 13th to the 28th of last month, all but one day were below 10 billion won. On the 27th, the short sale transaction price reached the bottom of 200 million won. However, from the 29th, short selling of 40 billion won suddenly poured in, and the short selling offensive of 12 billion won continued on that day.
Looking at the share price of Celltrion, such a short selling trend seems a bit unusual. It is common for short selling to surge when stocks that are considered overvalued in the market temporarily rise in price. It is interpreted that the number of investors who expect the share price of Celltrion to decline further ahead of the 3Q earnings release has increased that much.
Celltrion’s share price, which rose to 396,000 won in December last year, fell to 196,000 won during the day, halving in 11 months. The stock price, which had moved sideways from 270,000 won from May to July, rebounded sharply when it hit 300,000 won at the end of August, but fell 11.43% in September and 22.74% in last month.
Concerns over 3Q earnings are driving down Celltrion’s share price. In particular, as the highly anticipated corona antibody treatment ‘Rekkorina’ failed to meet expectations, investor sentiment rapidly cooled. In Korea, it was officially approved in September, but it has not yet been approved in North America and Europe. As a latecomer here, Merck’s corona pills came out, which further reduced expectations.
“Recklona is an intravenous injection, and it may be used less universally than oral, which is convenient,” said Lee Dal-mi, a researcher at SK Securities. There is a possibility that oral and injection can be used together,” he said.
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