Tag: Stocks_to_short

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Short Seller Targets Core Scientific

Culper Research short Core Scientific on ‘rigged deals,’ oversold businesses

In a recently published report titled “Core Scientific, Inc. (CORZ): Rigged Deals,” Culper Research says it is “short Core, as we think Core has wildly oversold both its mining and hosting businesses, which it cobbled together in a series of questionable transactions before dumping onto the public markets via SPAC.

Core’s acquired mining business, Blockcap, was formed in December 2020 with just $58.5 million, then flipped to Core for just 7 months later for $1.46 billion in connection with Core’s go-public.

We estimate Blockcap insiders made 20-25x their money.

On Monday, Core disclosed that its board waived the 180- day lockup on over 282 million shares, making them free to be dumped just 5 trading days from today.

We believe this shows insiders have abandoned any pretense of care for minority shareholders.”

“We think Core is no exception to what’s become a steady drumbeat of egregious projections made by many SPACs. We think both Core’s hosting business and its self-mining business have been wildly overhyped, and it’s no wonder that insiders can’t even wait 6 months to clamor for the exits,” the report reads.

“We also think Core has wildly overhyped the profitability of its self-mining business, where we estimate all-in breakeven costs of $41,723 per BTC (Bitcoin) vs. the Company’s SPAC claims of $2,700 just in power costs per BTC.

As such, we see Core as effectively using public markets to throw good money after bad while insiders set themselves up to dump billions worth of stock.”

In Thursday trading, shares of Core Scientific have dropped almost 3% to $7.50.

According to Wikipedia, being short in an asset means investing in such a way that the investor will profit if the value of the asset falls. This is the opposite of a more conventional “long” position, where the investor will profit if the value of the asset rises.

There are a number of ways of achieving a short position. The most fundamental method is “physical”ย selling shortย orย short-selling, which involves borrowing assets (oftenย securitiesย such asย sharesย orย bonds) and selling them. The investor will later purchase the same number of the same type of securities in order to return them to the lender.

Core Scientific, Inc. (CORZ) last traded at $7.15.

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This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.

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SmileDirectClub shares tumble on new California law

SmileDirectClub says nothing in AB1519 requires ceasing or modify operations

SmileDirectClub (SDC) issued a statement on California Assembly Bill 1519, stating in part:

“We are pleased with the Governor’s signing statement for AB1519.

New California law sends shares lower, Stockwinners

While the authorizing nature of AB1519 made it difficult to veto the bill, the Governor clearly indicated that he expects all stakeholders to come to together to find a better way to create policy around teledentistry.

While this bill does not preclude SmileDirectClub’s continued operations in California, it will create unnecessary hurdles and costs to Californians that need care but struggle to afford it. The undebated, clinically unsupported, and ill-advised policy changes that are included in this bill – a bill that was intended to reauthorize the Dental Board of California until last-minute policy additions were added – have created arbitrary barriers to technological innovation…Simply put, this bill represents the dental lobby’s thinly-veiled attempt to protect traditional dentistry at the expense of Californians, and Governor Newsom made the correct choice in issuing his strongly-worded rebuke of the tactics and policy that this bill represents.

California law may require a dentist at every SDC shop, Stockwinners

Nothing in AB1519 requires SmileDirectClub to cease or modify its operations, and nothing regarding teledentistry in this legislation can take effect until the Board has given all stakeholders the opportunity to submit public comment and debate the merits of any proposed rules with clinically-based data – as the Governor has requested in his signing statement. To that effect, SmileDirectClub will be reaching out to our partners in the field to coordinate efforts so that a positive outcome for the industry – and for the California consumers – can be reached…To be clear, SmileDirectClub will continue to legally operate in California, we will be an active participant in the administration-directed public debates surrounding teledentistry, and we will continue to provide affordable orthodontic care to thousands of smiling Californians.

Moving forward, SmileDirectClub welcomes transparent policy debates that include all stakeholders.”

Heavy lobbying by both sides made AB-1519 national news, Stockwinners

UBS Comments

UBS analyst Kevin Caliendo noted that California Governor Gavin Newsom signed bill AB-1519 over the weekend and the law is expected to go into effect on January 1, 2020.

He thinks that SmileDirectClub may need to place dentists inside its shops due to the new law, though it is less clear if the bill will mean that patients will need to get x-rays as well as iTero scans, which may eventually be determined in court.

The analyst, who noted that SmileDirect is scheduled to report Q3 results on November 12, noted that he has received questions on if the company might pre-announce, but he has “no insight or precedent into whether the company will opt to do that or not.” Caliendo has a Buy rating and $24 price target on SmileDirectClub shares.

SDC shares are down 9% to $10.12 in Monday’s trading.

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Zogenix tumbles on FDA action

Zogenix gets refusal to file letter from FDA on Fintepla NDA


Zogenix gets refusal to file letter from FDA on Fintepla NDA , Stockwinners

Zogenix (ZGNX) announced that it received a Refusal to File, RTF, letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding its New Drug Application for FINTEPLA, for the treatment of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome.

Dravet syndrome is a rare, catastrophic, lifelong form of epilepsy that begins in the first year of life with frequent and/or prolonged seizures. Previously known as Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy (SMEI), it affects 1:15,700 individuals, 80% of whom have a mutation in their SCN1A gene.

Upon its preliminary review, the FDA determined that the NDA, submitted on February 5, 2019, was not sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review.

In the letter, the FDA cited two reasons for the RTF decision: first, certain non-clinical studies were not submitted to allow assessment of the chronic administration of fenfluramine; and, second, the application contained an incorrect version of a clinical dataset, which prevented the completion of the review process that is necessary to support the filing of the NDA.

The FDA has not requested or recommended additional clinical efficacy or safety studies.

The company will seek immediate guidance, including a Type A meeting with the FDA, to clarify and respond to the issues identified in the RTF letter.

“We remain highly confident in FINTEPLA’s clinical profile demonstrated in the Phase 3 program in Dravet syndrome and are committed to advancing the product candidate as a potential new treatment option for this and other rare and often catastrophic epileptic encephalopathies,” said Stephen J. Farr, Ph.D., President and CEO of Zogenix.

“We are fully committed to working with the FDA as quickly as possible to address the open issues and clarify the path to successfully re-filing our application.”

Zogenix’s Marketing Authorization Application, MAA, for FINTEPLA for the treatment of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome was previously accepted for review by the European Medicines Agency, EMA, and the Company anticipates an approvability decision could be reached by the EMA in the first quarter of 2020.

Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray analyst Danielle Brill lowered her price target on Zogenix to $68 after it received a refusal to file letter from FDA on its Fintepla new drug application.

The analyst notes that while the issues mentioned by the FDA sound like a simple fix, if the agency requires the company to conduct new toxicity studies, the re-submission could be delayed another 12-15 months.

In spite of the “discouraging news”, longer term, Brill still keeps her Overweight rating on Zogenix and believes that “the company should be able to leverage existing ICH data with fenfluramine” based on their reported prior FDA interactions, modeling a launch in Q2 of 2020.

ZGNX closed at $51.85, it last traded at $35.00.

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This article does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with his or her individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility.

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