Sivers Semiconductors: Short Sellers Bleed 111% as GlobalFoundries Deal Sparks Frenzy, Analyst Unimpressed

Sivers Semiconductors shares surged 70% after AI optics deal with GlobalFoundries, triggering a short squeeze that cost hedge funds Voleon, Two Sigma, and Qube hundreds of millions in paper losses.

The 2nd of June 2026 will go down as a costly day for three of the most sophisticated hedge funds in the market. Sivers Semiconductors saw its stock surge roughly 70% on the Nasdaq Stockholm, touching above 100 SEK at one point — a gain that pushed the year-to-date return past 2,400%. For Voleon Capital Management, Two Sigma Investments and Qube Research & Technologies, the rally turned into a bloodbath.

The trigger was a cooperation agreement with GlobalFoundries. Sivers announced it would integrate its laser arrays into reference designs for GlobalFoundries' silicon-photonics platform, targeting optical connectivity in AI data centers. The company pegged the pluggable optics market at $25 billion by 2030. But the press release contained no contract value, binding volumes, exclusivity terms or a revenue timeline. That lack of detail didn't matter to the market — it set off one of the most dramatic short squeezes of the year.

According to data from Sweden's financial regulator Finansinspektionen, disclosed short positions totaled about 7.5% of the float. Voleon, Two Sigma and Qube alone held roughly 5.5%. The losses were staggering. Voleon, which shorted at an average price of 49.40 SEK, is now sitting on a paper loss of 111% on a position worth about 359 million SEK. Two Sigma entered at 56.12 SEK and is down 86% on a 440 million SEK position. Qube, with an entry of 71.89 SEK, is roughly 45% in the red.

The timing adds extra sting. Just a day before the surge, research firm Ningi Capital published a short report arguing that the stock's 2,000%-plus rise since January was built on speculation around AI clients, future orders and a US listing that has yet to materialize. The stock initially fell nearly 12%. Then the GlobalFoundries news flipped the narrative overnight.

But the euphoria is far from universal. Redeye, the investment bank that covers Sivers on the company's behalf, left its fair value unchanged at 6.20 SEK after the rally. Analyst Jacob Benon called the market reaction "extremely strong" and noted the strategic update did nothing to alter the firm's valuation. That implies a stock price some 94% above Redeye's target. Affärsvärlden also pointed out that GlobalFoundries had presented the partnership a month earlier — raising questions about whether the news was truly fresh.

Sivers' first-quarter results highlight the gap between ambition and execution. Net sales fell 22% year-on-year to 61.9 million SEK. Adjusted EBITDA was negative 13.8 million SEK, operating profit came in at minus 41.5 million SEK, and operating cash flow was negative 49.2 million SEK. The company blamed the US government shutdown in the fourth quarter of 2025, delayed defense budget approvals and unfavorable currency movements. On the positive side, the opportunity pipeline grew 77% to nearly $800 million.

For now, the stock trades on narrative and squeezed shorts rather than reported earnings. The next major dates are the annual general meeting on June 15 and the half-year report on August 6 — the first real test of whether the GlobalFoundries partnership can start translating pipeline into revenue. Until then, the chasm between an 100 SEK market price and a 6.20 SEK analyst target leaves Sivers as a study in extremes.