Short interest in Activision rises nearly 55%

Stock in Activision saw increased interest from short sellers who are betting that the stock price will fall.

According to Reuters, although short interest on the NASDAQ fell 1.2 per cent overall in March, Activision saw a rise in short interest of almost 55 per cent.

In February, the company announced record Q3 2008 net revenues of 1.3 billion. Activision's stock also increased significantly following the announcement that the company would be merging with Vivendi and closed today at USD 27.08.

In addition, titles such as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock have been huge sellers for Activision.

Nevertheless, approximately 11.2 million of the company's shares were held short - almost 4 per cent of the total shares outstanding.

Reuters could not account for the increase in short interest, although it did make reference to the lawsuit between the company and Gibson over patents allegedly violated by Guitar Hero.