Hedge funds sharply increased bearish positions in Hims & Hers Health in January, pushing short interest to its highest mark in at least a year, according to data from Hazeltree that was shared with Reuters. The surge in bets against the online telehealth company came just before a public clash with Novo Nordisk over a low-cost, compounded version of the Danish drugmaker’s weight-loss medicine.
Hazeltree reported that nearly 65% of Hims shares available to be borrowed were lent out for short selling in January - the largest proportion since October 2025. That figure is based on a dataset covering more than 600 asset managers who track roughly 16,000 global equities. Short sellers borrow shares with the expectation that prices will fall, then sell them hoping to repurchase later at lower prices.
The company faced a rapid sequence of setbacks in early February. On February 5, Hims introduced a compounded $49 version of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy product. Two days later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would take action against what it described as "illegal copycat drugs," prompting Hims to withdraw the low-cost product. Novo Nordisk filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Hims on February 9.
Those developments corresponded with a sharp drop in Hims’ market value. The company’s shares fell about a third in less than a week following the product withdrawal and the legal action. Over a longer horizon, the stock has declined by more than 50% since the start of 2026. LSEG data showed short interest in Hims reached a record high on February 12.
Market participants and analysts have linked the pattern of increasing short positions to the end of Hims’ partnership with Novo Nordisk. Ryan MacDonald, senior analyst at Needham, said that short positions that began accumulating as early as mid-2025 appeared to stem from the breakup of that collaboration. Without access to a branded weight-loss drug, MacDonald noted, Hims would be looking at the weight-loss market from the outside.
Hims did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Volatility around Hims’ shares has previously attracted hedge funds to the stock, and the combination of regulatory scrutiny, product withdrawal and litigation appears to have intensified bearish activity in recent weeks.
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