Nordea Slaps 51% Margins on Sivers Shorts as Liquidity Crunch Precedes Q1 Earnings

Nordea imposes 51.5%-153.5% margins on Sivers bear certificates due to poor liquidity; short interest hits 17% as stock surges 1,700% YTD. Q1 results due today.

The cost of betting against Sivers Semiconductors just skyrocketed. Starting May 28, Nordea Bank imposed base rate margins of 51.5% on bear certificates with a -1 factor — and 102.5% for -2 products, 153.5% for -3. Mini Future Shorts now require 50%. The bank cited poor liquidity in the securities lending market and rising borrowing costs for the stock. The move affects all BEAR SIVERS and MINI S SIVERS series from Nordea’s prospectuses dated December 2024 and December 2025.

The margin hike comes at a pivotal moment. Sivers reports first-quarter figures today, May 29, after a delay from the original May 20 date due to ongoing audit work. The stock has already surged roughly 1,700% year-to-date, but that rally has drawn a wall of short sellers. According to S&P Global data, short interest now stands at 17% of the free float — up from just 1.6% in early March. Notable names on the short side include Walleye Capital with 0.5%, Voleon Capital with 0.53%, plus Qube Research and Two Sigma.

Calle Söderberg of Nordnet describes the recent price action as highly speculative. On May 28, the shares closed at SEK 70.20, a daily decline of 4.36%. The valuation gap remains stark: a DCF model from Simply Wall St pegs fair value at SEK 1.73, while the analyst consensus sits at SEK 6.55 — both far below the current level. The market is pricing in aggressive growth for a company still deep in the red.

That red ink just got redder. Sivers recently released its 2025 annual report with restated figures to align with US auditing standards set by the PCAOB — a prerequisite for its planned secondary listing on the Nasdaq in New York. The restatement pushed the net loss for 2025 to SEK 222.6 million from the previously reported SEK 186.5 million. Revenue edged up slightly to SEK 306.6 million. For 2025, the company reported an operating loss of SEK 178 million and a net loss of SEK 223 million on SEK 307 million in sales. The accounting overhaul is not cosmetic: it clears the path for a US capital market debut.

Today’s Q1 2026 report will be the first real test of whether operational momentum can close the gap. Investors want to see if the partnership with Jabil on 1.6T optical transceivers is translating into measurable revenue, and whether demand from AI infrastructure and defense can shrink quarterly losses. Order intake, revenue trajectory, and cash burn are the key metrics.

One bright spot on the strategic side is the EW-STAR project. On May 19, Sivers secured a one-year renewal for this electronic warfare antenna program, with a $6.6 million funding commitment from the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition Hub under the CHIPS Act. Partners include BAE Systems, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and Columbia University — giving the effort industrial credibility even if it hasn’t yet produced a commercial revenue stream.

The company also expects to be added to the OMX Stockholm Benchmark Index and the MSCI Small-Cap Index on June 1. Such inclusions can trigger passive buying from ETFs and index funds. Market capitalisation stands at roughly SEK 23.5 billion, or about $2.5 billion — a lofty multiple for a loss-making chip firm.

The annual general meeting is scheduled for June 15. By then, the market will have had two weeks to digest the Q1 numbers and the reaction from short sellers facing sharply higher costs. If Sivers fails to deliver clear growth signals, the elevated short interest will remain a direct risk to the stock — and Nordea’s margin move makes that bet more expensive than ever.