Bed Bath & Beyond Fallout Makes a Billion for Short Sellers While Retail Traders Lose Big
- Short sellers see paper profits bolstered to $1.3 billion
- Retail traders are sitting on nearly $140 million losses
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Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.’s bankruptcy has netted more than a billion in paper profits for skeptics who bet against the big-box retailer, while amateur investors have been left holding a nearly empty bag.
The 99% plunge in the shares this year has delivered a $142 million boost in mark-to-market profits for short sellers, according to S3 Partners data, bringing potential returns since the January 2021 peak to $1.3 billion. For retail traders who bet on the meme stock, they’re likely sitting on losses of nearly $140 million this year, according to a Bloomberg analysis of Vanda Research data.