Guess?, Inc. (GES): One of the Underperforming Stocks Targeted By Short Sellers

Jabran Kundi

Wed, May 14, 2025, 10:22 AM 3 min read

We recently published a list of 20 Underperforming Stocks Targeted By Short Sellers. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) stands against other underperforming stocks targeted by short sellers.

Short interest refers to the percentage of publicly available shares that have been sold short. It is an indicator used by many investors to determine how strong a company’s bear thesis may be. Due to the nature of short selling, the short interest has become a popular indicator among investors.

The reason it is given so much weightage is that people betting against a stock have usually done solid research and are confident of a company’s downfall. They take unlimited risk, so when big investors or the smart money shorts a stock, people take notice. They try to unearth the red flags that may have prompted the high short interest.

We decided to dig deeper and try to find out where smart money sees trouble ahead. To come up with our list of 20 underperforming stocks targeted by short sellers, we looked at the worst-performing stocks of the last six months and then ranked them by the short interest.

A fashion-forward woman trying on a pair of sunglasses in the store mirror.

Short interest: 16.38%

6 months’ performance: -34.57%

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) makes apparel and accessories and sells them globally. The company’s stock is so undervalued that it has now become an M&A target! Last Thursday, a Bloomberg report suggested that Authentic Brands Global could take over the company at a price much higher than the $13 per share already offered by WHP Global. This has also increased the probability of a potential short squeeze.

Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES) announced its Q4 results in April and reported gross margins of 44%, down due to negative forex impact. Revenue grew at 8% in dollar terms, though a high inventory continues to cast a shadow on the management’s strategy. Going forward, the company expects revenue growth of anywhere between 3.9% and 6.2% in FY2026 as rag & bone as well as Middle East expansions start bringing in revenue.

The company’s Americas and Asia segments continue to disappoint, facing challenges like lower traffic and lower conversion rates. It will take some time for the management to deliver improvement, and going by the stock’s performance, investors do not seem to have the patience to wait for that.

Overall, GES ranks 9th on our list of underperforming stocks targeted by short sellers. While we acknowledge the potential of GES as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GES but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.