3 Social Media Stocks That Bucked The Short Interest Trend

By and large,

among the leading social media companies based in the United States dwindled between the December 15 and December 31 settlement dates. Yet,

,

and

bucked that trend.

Below is a closer look at how these three stocks and a few short-interest peers have fared recently and what analysts expect from them.

Short interest in this

company grew by more than 10 percent to more than 19.02 million shares in late December -- less than 2 percent of the float. That recovered most of the decline in the previous period. The days to cover rose to more than two.

eBay has a market capitalization in excess of $68 billion. Its spin-off of PayPal, Inc. is expected to come with job cuts, but the long-term earnings per share (EPS) growth forecast is more than 11 percent. While the operating margin is better than the industry average, the return on equity is in the red.

Of the 41 analysts who follow the stock that were surveyed by Thomson First Call, 19 recommend buying shares, with another 19 of them rating the stock at Hold. The mean price target, or where analysts expect the share price to go, is less than 5 percent higher than the current share price.

The share price rose marginally during the two-week short interest period and has slipped a bit since, underperforming the S&P 500 in the past month. Over the past six months, he stock has outperformed competitor

and the Nasdaq, but it also underperformed

Short interest in A shares of this operator of Google+ and YouTube jumped about 27 percent late in the month to around 3.01 million shares. Though that was about 1 percent of the float, it also was the greatest number of shares short since last August.

Analysts are looking for double-digit percentage growth of revenue for both the current quarter and the next. Google's long-term EPS growth forecast is about 17 percent, and its return on equity is about 14 percent. The company has a market cap near $340 billion. Class A shares include voting rights.

For at least three months, the consensus recommendation has been to buy these shares. Of the 49 analysts polled, 17 rate the stock at Strong Buy, and none rate it at Underperform. They believe the shares have plenty of head room, as the mean price target is more than 21 percent higher than the current share price.

Short sellers watched shares rise less than 3 percent in the short interest period, which was in line with the Nasdaq, but the stock has pulled back about 6 percent since. It has underperformed the likes of Facebook and Yahoo over the past six months, as well as the broader markets.

Short interest in this micro-blogging service provider swelled about 12 percent. The more than 37.39 million shares short at the end of the year represents 8.5 percent of the float, the greatest number of shares short since last May. It would take more than two days to cover all short positions.

Analysts are looking for strong revenue growth in both the current quarter and the next. Twitter has a market cap of more than $24 billion, but like eBay and Google offers no dividend. Note that the return on equity and the operating margin both remain in negative territory.

Of the 39 analysts surveyed, 17 recommend buying Twitter shares, while only two rate the stock at Underperform or Sell. A move to the analysts' mean price target would be a gain of more than 21 for the shares. Note though that shares traded higher than that as recently as October.

Twitter's share price ended the two-week period more than 2 percent lower, but it has bounced back more than 10 percent since. Over the past six months, the stock has underperformed

,

and the broader markets, though it outperformed Google.

As mentioned above, short sellers shied away from many social media stocks during the latter holidays. The number of shares short in

,

,

and

fell by double-digit percentages ahead of the new year.

Short interest in Facebook, Google C shares, LinkedIn,

,

and

declined more modestly. The number of shares short in

was about the same at the beginning and end of the period.

Furthermore, note that the number of U.S.-listed shares (or ADSs) sold short of Chinese social media companies

,

,

and

declined late in the month, but short interest in

,

and

increased.

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