Invest
Short float definition
Investors who wish to personally manage their shares portfolio will encounter various share market metrics that can guide them in determining how a company’s share price could move. One of these guide metrics is called the short float or short percent of float.

Short float definition
Investors who wish to personally manage their shares portfolio will encounter various share market metrics that can guide them in determining how a company’s share price could move. One of these guide metrics is called the short float or short percent of float.

Short float is defined as the percentage of shares in the market that are shorted in relation to all shares in a float. Many active traders consider this percentage because it can indicate whether they can make a profit from trading a share. Beginners can also benefit from understanding short floats.
Nest Egg provides a quick guide to help beginner investors understand the significance of a short float and the information it provides about a share.
What is ‘float’?
Float refers to the total number or percentage of authorised shares that has already been made available in the share market for public trading.
There are different types of float shares and each one has conditions and rights attached. Nest Egg’s What are the different types of shares? explains the differences in further detail.
What is ‘shorting’?
Shorting refers to an investment strategy that involves borrowing shares from a broker and selling them for a profit then buying the same number of shares to return to the broker. However, the strategy isn’t as simple because shorting involves betting that a company’s share price will go down then borrowing the shares to sell at its current high price.
If the investor was correct and the share price declines, they would purchase the same number of shares at a lower price to return to their broker. This scenario would result in a profit once the investor closes their position.
However, if the share price increases and the broker calls for the investor to return the borrowed shares, the investor would have no choice but to purchase higher priced shares to close their position. This would result in loss for the investor.
What information does a short float reflect?
Short float shows the percentage of shares that are shorted relative to the number of float shares and this percentage reflects the market sentiment about the underlying company.
Since investors who short shares assume that the share price will decline, a high short percent of float implies that investors are either bearish on a company or they believe it is overvalued and they intend to profit off its potential decline by selling high.
How can beginners benefit from the short float information?
Beginner investors must learn that not all price movements are indicative of the underlying company’s performance simply because many experts are executing the trades. They have to be wary of the potential intent behind a price surge or decline before joining the bandwagon because they may end up being swept away by mere market sentiments.
Instead of blindly following a trend, beginners should consider searching for information regarding a company’s float shares and the proportion which is shorted—or those that were simply borrowed and sold. This percentage would give them the idea that a company may soon see a drop in their share price and that they could incur loss.
However, it’s also inadvisable to rely solely on the short float when making investment decisions because it is only one of the many metrics experts use.
Nest Egg recommends that investors practice due diligence before making an assumption and executing trades over a share’s price movement.
About the author

About the author


Shares
3 themes Aussie investors are chasing in 2021
Australian retail investors believe electric vehicles, the sharing economy and large pharmaceutical companies to be the major winners in 2021, their trade active has revealed. ...Read more

Shares
Could healthcare stocks continue to rally in 2021?
Despite being one of the big winners during the COVID-19 pandemic, global healthcare is predicted to continue to perform strongly over the longer term, an industry expert has said. ...Read more

Shares
Why you should give the gift of investing this Christmas
Investors are being urged to think long-term before deciding on a Christmas gift, with experts pointing to more impactful gifting ideas. ...Read more

Shares
Crown faces share buybacks over alleged money laundering
Crown Resorts might be forced to buy back shares from investors after a class action against the casino’s governance and risk management failings caused a massive share price plunge in October. ...Read more

Shares
Airbnb skyrockets to nearly US$100bn public market debut
Airbnb has more than doubled its share price in its first day of trading as the company recorded one of the largest first day rallies in history. ...Read more

Shares
How investors can beat the market through ETFs
Despite being known to track an index, investors are being advised that exchange-traded funds have evolved and can now beat the very markets they were initially created to track. ...Read more

Shares
How first-time investors can plan their portfolios into 2021
It is more important than ever for first-time investors to have a clear strategy for managing their portfolios as we enter 2021. ...Read more

Shares
Back in the black: Qantas predicts breaking even in 2021
The national airline expects to break even in 2021, minus the costs of redundancy payments, according to an official statement. ...Read more

Shares
3 themes Aussie investors are chasing in 2021
Australian retail investors believe electric vehicles, the sharing economy and large pharmaceutical companies to be the major winners in 2021, their trade active has revealed. ...Read more

Shares
Could healthcare stocks continue to rally in 2021?
Despite being one of the big winners during the COVID-19 pandemic, global healthcare is predicted to continue to perform strongly over the longer term, an industry expert has said. ...Read more

Shares
Why you should give the gift of investing this Christmas
Investors are being urged to think long-term before deciding on a Christmas gift, with experts pointing to more impactful gifting ideas. ...Read more

Shares
Crown faces share buybacks over alleged money laundering
Crown Resorts might be forced to buy back shares from investors after a class action against the casino’s governance and risk management failings caused a massive share price plunge in October. ...Read more

Shares
Airbnb skyrockets to nearly US$100bn public market debut
Airbnb has more than doubled its share price in its first day of trading as the company recorded one of the largest first day rallies in history. ...Read more

Shares
How investors can beat the market through ETFs
Despite being known to track an index, investors are being advised that exchange-traded funds have evolved and can now beat the very markets they were initially created to track. ...Read more

Shares
How first-time investors can plan their portfolios into 2021
It is more important than ever for first-time investors to have a clear strategy for managing their portfolios as we enter 2021. ...Read more

Shares
Back in the black: Qantas predicts breaking even in 2021
The national airline expects to break even in 2021, minus the costs of redundancy payments, according to an official statement. ...Read more