The market has spent three months carving 65.3% off Bapcor's valuation, and short sellers have spent those same three months positioning themselves for the slide. It is a classic squeeze on an automotive parts distributor facing a margin crunch, where the floor keeps dropping lower than expected.
The turning point arrived on 14 May 2026, when Bapcor slashed its FY26 EBITDA guidance to A$144 million 1. Rising fuel, freight, and inflationary pressures crushed margins, triggering a 21% single-day share price crash 2 that dragged the stock well below its March capital raising price 34. Before the cut, director L. Edwards bought shares on-market on 1 April 2026 5, a show of confidence that quickly aged poorly as macroeconomic headwinds overtook the business 6. The turnaround momentum was simply overwhelmed by costs 7.
Short interest has climbed to 10.94%, leaving the peer sector average of 4.36% far behind. The 30-day price-shorts correlation sits at -0.580, showing a highly coordinated march as the stock collapsed. With a 30-day short slope of 0.0959% per day, short sellers have been aggressively building their positions rather than taking profits on the way down. Because of the standard ASIC T+4 reporting delay, this 10.94% peak reflects the state of play from late last week, suggesting the post-downgrade shorting momentum is already locked in.
With the share price down 91.1% over the last 12 months, Bapcor is trading at just 0.43 AUD. The short sellers are firmly in control, and they show no sign of letting go.