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The 7 Most Hated Stocks on Wall Street Today

By U.S. News & World Report

There’s no easy way to identify the most hated stocks on Wall Street, but looking at the activity of short sellers is a great place to start.

Short selling is a difficult art that involves researching companies to determine which of them are overvalued or facing serious business problems. Sometimes short sellers uncover something nefarious, including accounting issues, but many times they are simply taking the other side of the trade — selling when others are buying. They can be just as wrong as the bulls, and their advice should be taken with a grain of salt.

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That said, while short sellers are not always right, ignoring their arguments can be dangerous for bullish investors. It’s always important to look critically at Wall Street and your portfolio, so understanding stocks out of favor can be just as valuable as uncovering new opportunities.

If you’re looking for the most hated stocks on Wall Street, start with this list. All seven companies are worth more than $1 billion but have more than 30% of their available shares held by short sellers expecting the bottom to fall out.

Stock Market capitalization Short interest
Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc. (ticker: ACHC) $2.4 billion 42%
CleanSpark Inc. (CLSK) $2.4 billion 47%
Hims & Hers Health Inc. (HIMS) $6.1 billion 44%
Intellia Therapeutics Inc. (NTLA) $1.5 billion 43%
Novavax Inc. (NVAX) $1.6 billion 31%
Ondas Inc. (ONDS) $4.4 billion 34%
SoundHound AI Inc. (SOUN) $3.4 billion 35%

Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc. (ACHC)

Market value: $2.4 billion Short interest: 42%

Acadia provides behavioral health care services, including inpatient psychiatric facilities as well as outpatient and residential recovery centers. Given rising struggles with mental health and addiction across America, ACHC might seem like a strong stock based on long-term trends. But recent headlines tell a different story. Institutional investor Engine Capital Management recently divested more than 2.2 million shares following a brutal 60% decline from Acadia’s 2024 highs. Continued reimbursement risk and regulatory scrutiny only add more uncertainty. When a stock loses the support of major shareholders, it can signal a broader crisis of confidence that leads to persistent share declines.

CleanSpark Inc. (CLSK)

Market value: $2.4 billion Short interest: 47%

CleanSpark operates with heavy exposure to Bitcoin, both mining the cryptocurrency and providing infrastructure for the digital assets ecosystem. Bitcoin enjoyed a powerful rally over the past year, peaking near $95,000 in January. But it has since fallen below $70,000 and appears to be weakening amid broader “risk-off” sentiment in financial markets. CleanSpark rode the rally higher, surging roughly 10 times from about $2 a share in 2023 to nearly $20 late last year. But momentum has now reversed, and the stock has taken a beating as crypto enthusiasm cools. As a result, many investors have grown increasingly skeptical of this small-cap crypto play.

Hims & Hers Health Inc. (HIMS)

Market value: $6.1 billion Short interest: 44%

There was a time when Hims & Hers ranked among the strongest momentum stocks on Wall Street. The telehealth leader built a following by making treatments such as weight-loss medications and mental health services more accessible and affordable. That momentum hit a major roadblock recently when the company was forced to abandon certain weight-loss products after backlash from U.S. regulators and a lawsuit from drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) over its patented Ozempic products.

That feud came to a sudden end on March 9 as Hims and Novo Nordisk came to an agreement in which the latter dropped the lawsuit and Hims gained the right to sell Wegovy and Ozempic on its platform, sending HIMS stock surging. Although shares remain at less than half the valuation they commanded last fall, the stock quickly rallied more than 60% in a matter of days on the agreement, sparked, in part, by a horde of short sellers rushing to cover their positions. It’s likely the short interest will decline in the weeks ahead.

[Read: 10 of the Best Stocks to Buy This Year.]

Intellia Therapeutics Inc. (NTLA)

Market value: $1.5 billion Short interest: 43%

Intellia is a classic high-risk, high-reward biotech that exemplifies the characteristics of Wall Street’s most hated stocks. Major news events — particularly clinical trial updates — can make or break the company. Wall Street expects roughly 300% revenue growth next year, but NTLA remains deeply unprofitable as it works toward commercialization. The real blow came last fall when the Food and Drug Administration placed a clinical hold on one of Intellia’s drugs. Shares collapsed from above $28 to under $6 in just a few months. While the pause was lifted in March, it will likely require significant positive results to rebuild Wall Street’s confidence. And in biotech, one misstep can quickly spell disaster.

Novavax Inc. (NVAX)

Market value: $1.6 billion Short interest: 31%

Biotech firm Novavax specializes in developing vaccines. Over the past few years it has become one of Wall Street’s most hated stocks, plunging more than 90% from its 2022 highs after demand for its COVID-19 vaccine evaporated and revenue collapsed. Recently, the company has attempted to stabilize its business through strategic partnerships. Those efforts may be showing some progress, highlighted by a surprise fourth-quarter profit. Still, the company remains deeply unprofitable on an annual basis and revenue continues to trend lower. That combination of a massive share price decline and deteriorating fundamentals helps explain why bears remain eager to short this health care stock.

Ondas Inc. (ONDS)

Market value: $4.4 billion Short interest: 34%

Ondas develops drone technologies with both civilian communications applications and military uses. Its Iron Drone Raider defense-grade drones are designed primarily for automated surveillance and counter-drone protection rather than offensive strikes. The company has attracted attention amid rising geopolitical tensions, but its financials remain modest. Ondas is expected to generate only about $50 million in revenue this year, giving the stock a lofty valuation relative to sales. Shares have surged roughly 1,000% over the past year as investors piled into the defense-drone theme. But the company is still unprofitable, and many traders believe the stock is priced to perfection — explaining why short sellers are betting the rally could eventually collapse.

SoundHound AI Inc. (SOUN)

Market value: $3.4 billion Short interest: 35%

At first glance, SoundHound looks like the kind of “agentic AI” stock investors love. The company focuses on artificial intelligence software for voice recognition, transcription and automated customer service. But SoundHound faces intense competition from major tech players including Microsoft and Google, which are pushing their own AI tools into enterprise markets. The company still expects more than 30% revenue growth this fiscal year. However, shares have fallen to roughly one-third of their 2025 peak as investors grew wary of its lofty valuation. Prices may now look more reasonable after the decline, but once a stock becomes one of Wall Street’s most hated names, rebuilding investor confidence can be difficult.

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The 7 Most Hated Stocks on Wall Street Today originally appeared on usnews.com

Deadly, relentless storms batter Midwest and Ohio Valley, with more flooding ahead

By CNN
(CNN) — Flash flooding spread into eastern Tennessee late Tuesday, stranding vehicles and closing roads in western Knoxville, Lenoir City and part of Pigeon Forge, as rounds of storms with heavy rain and powerful winds move across the Midwest and Ohio Valley this week.The flooding marked the latest wave in a relentless storm pattern that has killed a 4-year-old child and knocked out power to more than 1 million homes and businesses.Many of the same battered communities face another round of flooding rain and severe thunderstorms Wednesday. The greatest flood threat is from southeastern Indiana through western Ohio and northern Kentucky, where saturated ground could cause new downpours to quickly overwhelm roads and waterways.⛈️☔️In one of the impacted areas? Track the storms, find out your local risk and get more detailed timing from meteorologists in the CNN Weather app⛈️☔️Here’s the latest:Death in Indiana: A 4-year-old child died in southeastern Indiana on Tuesday after a tree fell on a house in Geneva Township, according to Cody Low, chief deputy for the Jennings County sheriff’s department. The child was “either entrapped or injured” when the 911 call came in around 3:30 p.m., but when responders arrived they found the child dead in the home, Low told CNN.Lightning strike at Ohio prison: Sixteen inmates were taken to a hospital after lightning struck Grafton Correctional Institution in Lorain County, Ohio, Tuesday evening as they returned from dinner, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said. No deaths were reported, the department said.Destructive winds: A derecho brought wind gusts over 75 mph across a 300-mile-long stretch of the Midwest Tuesday afternoon, from northeast Iowa to northern Indiana. Hurricane-force wind gusts over 90 mph were clocked in parts of Chicago, and Columbus, Ohio, experienced gusts over 80 mph.Widespread power outages: More than one million homes and businesses across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia were without power Tuesday evening, according to PowerOutage.us. Outages in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio alone topped 900,000. As of early Wednesday morning, more than 800,000 customers remain in the dark.Flash flood emergency: Water rescues were reported Tuesday morning in Perry County, Ohio, the state’s emergency management director told CNN. Videos on social media showed rescuers in rafts navigating powerful currents of water coursing through the streets of Crooksville, a village in the county. A rare flash flood emergency – the highest level of flash flood warning – was issued there early Tuesday after about a month’s worth of rain fell in 3 hours. New rounds of heavy rain arrived later in the morning, threatening to worsen the flooding and hamper rescue efforts.Rescues in Pennsylvania: Flooding damaged homes, vehicles, roads and a railroad around Confluence, Pennsylvania, local officials said. Ten people were rescued from a flooded home near Confluence Tuesday morning, fire chief Tyler Byrd told CNN. Another person was also rescued from the roof of a vehicle, he said. The area saw 3 to 5 inches of rain over several hours early Tuesday.More rain targets the same storm-weary areasAnother round of heavy rain and severe thunderstorms will threaten areas from the Plains through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys Wednesday, including many communities still without power after Tuesday’s storms.A Level 2 of 4 risk of flooding rain stretches from eastern Nebraska and Iowa through parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia.Storms could produce rainfall rates of up to 3 inches per hour, with localized totals approaching 6 inches where multiple rounds repeatedly track over the same locations. Even lower rainfall totals could quickly cause flooding where the ground is saturated from deluges earlier this week.Exactly where the most dangerous flooding will develop remains uncertain. Forecast guidance has struggled to pinpoint the heaviest rain during this week’s chaotic storm pattern, and the placement of storms early Wednesday will influence where additional rounds develop later in the day.Some storms could form across northern Illinois by midmorning before spreading south and east into central Illinois, Indiana and the lower Ohio Valley during the afternoon and evening. Damaging winds will be the primary severe threat, though isolated large hail is also possible.Such extreme rainfall is becoming more common in a world warming due to fossil fuel pollution. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture that storms can tap into and wring out in more intense spurts.A Level 2 of 5 severe storm threat covers much of central Illinois, Indiana and western Kentucky. Wednesday’s storms are not expected to be as widespread and destructive as Tuesday’s derecho, but they could still topple trees and cause new power outages in already hard-hit communities.Farther west, storms could develop in the central Plains Wednesday afternoon, then expand east. These storms could initially produce large hail and damaging winds before merging into a larger complex capable of torrential rain.The flood threat will persist Thursday as additional storms track through many of the same areas. Repeated rounds of rain could push multiday totals above 6 inches in some locations. Over 6 inches of rain is close to double the average August rainfall of 3.43 inches in Cincinnati and 3.75 inches in Charleston, West Virginia.The pattern should finally begin to break this weekend as high pressure builds over the region and suppresses widespread storm development.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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