Sivers Semiconductors: Short Sellers, Regulators, and a GlobalFoundries Deal — A Stock in Turmoil

Sivers Semiconductors' stock surged 70% after a GlobalFoundries partnership, but short-seller allegations, two investigations, and weak fundamentals cast doubt on the rally.

Sivers Semiconductors has become the most volatile name in European chips this week, caught between a devastating short-seller report, a game-changing partnership with GlobalFoundries, and not one but two active investigations. The result: a 70 percent single-day surge that briefly pushed the stock above 100 Swedish kronor, extending its year-to-date gain past 2,400 percent. Yet beneath the euphoria, the company’s fundamentals are shrinking, an analyst sees fair value at just 6.20 kronor, and regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are circling.

The catalyst for the rally came on June 2, when Sivers announced a strategic collaboration with GlobalFoundries. Under the deal, Sivers’ high-performance laser arrays will be integrated into GlobalFoundries’ SCALE™ silicon-photonics platform, targeting co-packaged optics and linear pluggable optics — technologies crucial for hyperscale AI data centers. The announcement highlighted a potential market for pluggable optics that could reach $25 billion by 2030, though it disclosed no binding volume commitments, delivery timelines, or specific revenue targets.

That lack of concrete numbers is exactly what short seller Ningi Research pounced on a day earlier. On June 1, Ningi published a scathing report calling Sivers a “retail-driven pump,” alleging questionable revenue recognition, hollow customer contracts, and a volume ramp that has been repeatedly delayed since 2018. The OTC-listed shares initially fell 9.2 percent. Hours later, the Rosen Law Firm announced it would investigate possible securities law violations, arguing Sivers may have misled investors with its public statements.

The drama escalated further when Swedish authorities opened an insider trading probe. Prosecutor Jonas Myrdal noted that the stock had already rallied sharply roughly 48 hours before any official announcement of a planned US listing — a pattern he described as “striking” and reminiscent of earlier pump-and-dump cases. Myrdal has asked Nasdaq to review the trading activity under the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The source of the suspected leak remains unidentified.

Short sellers, meanwhile, are caught in a vice. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, nearly 17 percent of the free float had been lent out by the end of May, up from just 1.6 percent in early March. That massive short positioning — including institutional stakes held by Voleon Capital Management and Two Sigma Investments — made the stock ripe for a squeeze. When the GlobalFoundries deal sent shares soaring, shorts were forced to cover, amplifying the move. The disclosed short interest stood at approximately 7.5 percent of outstanding shares before the rally.

On the opposite side, passive buyers are piling in. Sivers joined the OMX Stockholm Benchmark Index on June 1, and late May saw its addition to the MSCI Sweden Small-Cap Index. Tracking funds must now adjust their portfolios, creating steady demand that helps offset selling pressure from bears.

All this volatility comes ahead of a pivotal annual general meeting on June 15, with a record date of June 5. Shareholders will vote on two new board candidates and a stock option program covering 7 million options — equivalent to roughly 2 percent dilution. The outcome will test how much confidence institutional investors still place in the company’s board.

Fundamentally, the numbers make for uncomfortable reading. First-quarter revenue fell 22 percent year over year to 61.9 million Swedish kronor. The adjusted EBITDA was negative 13.8 million kronor, and operating cash flow stood at minus 49.2 million kronor. Sivers blames delayed US defense budgets and currency headwinds. Management points to an opportunity pipeline of $799 million, up 77 percent, but whether that pipeline converts into cash is exactly what Ningi, the Rosen law firm, and Swedish prosecutors are all questioning.

The single analyst still covering the stock has left its target unchanged at 6.20 kronor — a fraction of the current market price. That gap between narrative and numbers may be the most telling signal of all.