Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 13, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 13, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleHedge funds increased short positions against Hims & Hers Health before a legal clash with Novo Nordisk over a weight-loss pill, causing significant stock price drops.
By Nell Mackenzie and Samuel Indyk
LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Hedge fund bets against Hims & Hers Health hit their highest in at least a year in January, just before the online telehealth firm clashed with Novo Nordisk over its cut-price weight-loss pill, according to data shared with Reuters by Hazeltree.
Hims withdrew its low-cost pill earlier this month under scrutiny from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and was hit with fresh lawsuits from former partner Novo Nordisk - a sequence that wiped a third off its share price in less than a week.
Nearly 65% of available Hims stock was loaned out for short selling last month, Hazeltree said - the most since October 2025, based on data from more than 600 asset managers tracking 16,000 global stocks.
Short sellers borrow shares to bet their prices will fall.
Hims did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Its shares have fallen more than 50% since the start of 2026. Short interest reached a record high on February 12, according to LSEG data.
On February 5, Hims unveiled a $49 compounded version of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy weight-loss pill, but back-tracked on February 7 after the FDA said it would act against "illegal copycat drugs".
Novo Nordisk sued Hims for patent infringement on February 9. Volatility has previously drawn hedge funds into Hims' stock.
"When we look at the short position that was building as early as the middle of last year, I think it all sprung from the dissolution of the partnership that Hims had with Novo Nordisk," said Ryan MacDonald, senior analyst at Needham.
Without access to a branded weight-loss drug, Hims would be looking at the weight-loss market from the outside, MacDonald added.
(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie and Samuel Indyk. Editing by Amanda Cooper and Mark Potter)
Short selling is an investment strategy where an investor borrows shares and sells them, hoping to buy them back at a lower price to return to the lender, profiting from the price difference.
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that employs various strategies to earn active returns for its investors, often using leverage and derivatives.
Market volatility refers to the rate at which the price of an asset increases or decreases for a given set of returns, indicating the level of risk associated with the asset.
The share price is the current price at which a company's stock is bought or sold. It reflects the company's market value and investor perception.
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