When this was written — On 3 August 2026. The figures are as at that date or earlier and have not been updated since.
NextDC directors are putting their own capital on the line to fight back against a persistent short position. While short sellers have targeted the data centre operator over the past year, the board is buying the dip, signalling that the market has mispriced the stock's recent weakness.
On 18 May 2026, five board members executed on-market purchases totalling a net A$375,386.60. Chairman Douglas Flynn led the buying spree with a A$301,142.40 acquisition 1, supported by Stuart Davis's A$121,945.40 purchase 2. Non-executive directors Eileen Doyle 3, Jamaludin Ibrahim 4, and Deborah Page 5 also joined, comfortably offsetting a transaction by Maria Leftakis 6. This direct alignment of interest comes after NextDC reported H1 FY26 results in February, showing a 13% increase in revenue to A$231.8 million and underlying EBITDA rising 9% to A$115.3 million R7.
Despite management guiding for FY26 underlying EBITDA of up to A$240 million R7, short sellers remain unconvinced. NextDC's short interest sits at 8.33%, nearly double the peer sector average of 4.35%. Though down slightly from its 90-day high of 9.44%, the short position remains elevated while the share price has slipped 8.7% over the past month and 7.7% over the past year. The 30-day price-to-short correlation sits at a weak 0.140, suggesting the short sellers are dug in rather than reacting to short-term price swings.
With directors buying and the short position holding firm, NextDC is a battleground. The board has backed its FY26 EBITDA guidance with hard cash; now the short sellers must decide whether to hold or fold.