The 'Disciplined Investor' Shorts Shake Shake Following 'Unimpressive' Earnings

Shake Shack Inc SHAK shares are down 3.5 percent on Friday. Earlier this week, the company reported Q4 revenue of $73.3 million compared to consensus estimates of $70.6 million. EPS of $0.09 was in-line with expectations, but the market was disappointed in Shake Shack’s shrinking margins.

Related Link: Shake Shack's Shaky Margins Cast A Shadow On Q4 Revenue Beat

In fact, Andrew Horowitz, president of Horowitz & Company and publisher of The Disciplined Investor blog, believes Shake Shack is now a ripe opportunity for short sellers. Horowitz's The Disciplined Investor Podcast is one of the top iTunes investing podcasts.

On Friday, Horowitz tweeted that Shake Shack’s earnings were simply “unimpressive” and disclosed that he is now short the stock.

Horowitz is certainly not alone in his bearish sentiment for Shake Shack. Short interest in the stock has skyrocketed 75.5 percent in the past year. According to shortsqueeze.com, Shake Shack’s short percent of float is an extremely high 42.6 percent. There are currently more than 7.6 million shares held short with 15.7 days to cover.

At this point, Horowitz’s bearish bet may be a risky proposition. Any stock with such extremely high short interest is a prime candidate for a short squeeze. In addition, any meaningful dips in share price could be met with short covering as short sellers attempt to take profits on their trades.