Sivers Semiconductors: Short-Seller Shuffle and a 42.9M SEK Tax Quirk Cloud a 13% Hardware Rebound

Arrowstreet discloses short position as Citadel, D.E. Shaw exit; Q2 net loss widens to 115M kronor on tax charge.

The cast of bearish investors circling Sivers Semiconductors is changing, even as the Swedish chipmaker's stock struggles to find its footing after a bruising second-quarter report. Arrowstreet Capital has emerged as a newly disclosed short seller, while both Citadel Securities and D. E. Shaw have exited their previously reported bearish positions. The reshuffling among institutional players underscores just how divided the market has become on the company's trajectory.

The timing is hardly coincidental. The moves come on the heels of a quarterly update that sent shares reeling. Sivers reported net sales of 53.8 million Swedish kronor for the second quarter of 2026, a figure that fell well short of expectations. Adjusted EBITDA landed at minus 35.5 million kronor, while EBIT deteriorated to minus 116.9 million kronor. On a reported basis, the EBITDA loss ballooned from 22.5 million to 98.3 million kronor, and the net loss widened from 50.6 million to 115.0 million kronor. Loss per share deepened from minus 0.19 to minus 0.38 kronor.

The Accounting Distortion Behind the Losses

A significant chunk of that red ink, however, stems from a non-cash charge tied to employer social security contributions totaling 42.9 million kronor — an ironic byproduct of the stock's earlier surge. Strip that out, and the operating picture looks markedly different. Product and hardware revenue climbed 13 percent year over year, or 18 percent on a currency-adjusted basis, and the company's order pipeline had grown to $1.2 billion by July.

Management sought to bolster the balance sheet in the wake of the selloff, raising 825 million kronor in fresh equity and converting a $12 million convertible loan into shares. The capital injection provides breathing room, though it comes at the cost of further dilution for existing shareholders.

A Stock Caught Between Recovery and Rout

The market's reaction has been volatile, to put it mildly. After Friday's close at 2.44 euros — a 15 percent single-day plunge — the stock has since bounced to 2.57 euros, up 5.5 percent on Monday. Even so, the shares remain 12 percent lower on the week and sit a staggering 75 percent below the 52-week high of 10.23 euros reached in early June. The 30-day annualized volatility stands at a remarkable 169 percent.

Adding to the unease, Swedish business daily Affärsvärlden reported on August 18 that a significant shareholder may have sold stock without proper disclosure. Such a reporting breach would compound the nervousness around a company whose investor base is already on edge. The stock trades 38 percent below its 50-day moving average of 3.94 euros.

Warrants, Tax Bills, and Unfulfilled Catalysts

The recent turbulence traces back to a series of events that have unfolded in quick succession. Roughly two weeks ago, investor Bootstrap exercised all of its warrants, subscribing to 1.6 million new common shares — a move that has coincided with a 36.3 percent decline in the stock. Around the same period, the company disclosed the 42.9 million kronor payroll tax liability, a lingering consequence of past share price gains that now weighs on the books.

Even a potentially significant partnership — a development program with SemiNex for next-generation light sources aimed at AI data centers, announced about three weeks ago — has failed to lift sentiment. Since that announcement, the stock has dropped 33.6 percent.

The confluence of disappointments — the weak quarterly numbers, the tax charge, the disclosure questions surrounding a major holder — has left some investors wondering whether structural trust issues are weighing on the company more heavily than operational progress like the expanded pipeline can offset.

From a technical standpoint, the relative strength index at 37.2 suggests the stock is not yet in extreme oversold territory. Whether the recent short-seller rotation marks a turning point or merely a repositioning among skeptics may ultimately depend on whether the hardware growth and the swelling order book translate into actual revenue in the quarters ahead.