We recently published a list of the 10 Best High Short Interest Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) stands against other high short interest stocks to buy now.
Aditya Bhave, BofA Securities head of US Economics, joined ‘Power Lunch’ on CNBC on April 17 to talk about whether tariffs are ultimately inflationary, disinflationary, or deflationary. Aditya Bhave responded that the impact depends on the magnitude of the uncertainty shock. He explained that tariffs are generally stagflationary, which means that they contribute to both inflation and economic stagnation. However, he also emphasized that it’s not just the content of the trade policy announcements that matters, but also the disruptive way in which these policies have been communicated, which has increased uncertainty for businesses. He noted that there is a scenario where the uncertainty caused by these policies could outweigh their stagflationary effects, making tariffs disinflationary instead. Bhave also referenced Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s recent hawkish remarks and drew a parallel to Powell’s stance during the 2021–2022 rate hiking cycle.
He highlighted Powell’s assertion that sustained full employment is not possible without price stability, which is a justification that Powell previously used for aggressive rate hikes even during a technical recession. Bhave believes the Fed is likely to maintain its focus on price stability and continue its current policy approach in the near term. Earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fed and Powell in particular, notably responded to tariff-induced supply chain disruptions by aggressively stimulating the economy. Bhave argued that this aggressive response came after and not during the initial supply chain disruptions, and that while the Fed may have acted a bit late, it ultimately raised rates sharply by 425 basis points in a single year. He does not expect the Fed to repeat such aggression, but believes that the case for holding rates steady is strong right now.
Our Methodology
We first sifted through stock screeners to find companies with a short interest between 10% and 25%. We then selected the 10 stocks that were the most shorted as of April 16, but at the same time were popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q4 2024. The hedge fund data was sourced from Insider Monkey’s database, which tracks the moves of over 1000 elite money managers.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A general view of a luxury resort casino, surrounded by a beautiful landscape and illuminated at night.
Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR)
Short % of Float As of April 16: 11.59%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 79
Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) is a gaming and hospitality company. It owns, leases, brands, or manages domestic properties in 18 states with items like slot machines, video lottery terminals, e-tables, and hotel rooms. It also operates and conducts retail and online sports wagering across 32 jurisdictions in North America, and iGaming in five jurisdictions in North America.
In 2024, Caesars Digital achieved records with $1.2 billion in net revenue, which was a year-over-year improvement of 20%. In Q4 alone, Caesars Digital generated $303 million in net revenue. The company noted that unfavorable sports betting outcomes in October and December impacted these figures. Excluding these low hold results, the digital segment’s revenue would have been ~$370 million.
A lot of this growth came from the iGaming sector, which showed a 65% net revenue growth during Q4. This was fueled by product offerings within the Caesars Palace Online app and the rollout of the new Horseshoe app. In January, Caesars Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) launched its first branded online Caesars Casino Live dealer studio in Pennsylvania, with plans to introduce similar branded studios in New Jersey and Michigan in H1 of the year.
Buckley Capital stated the following regarding Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“We recently added Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) to our portfolio at an average price of ~$37 per share. We believe that in owning CZR, we are getting world-class assets in both its owned casino real estate and digital businesses – which will comprise almost 70% of 2025 EBITDA – while paying a rock-bottom price. With three important catalysts about to materialize in the next 12 months – significant deleveraging, the digital business inflecting to substantial profitability, and massive FCF generation – we believe investor enthusiasm will turn more positive and the shares will re-rate higher. Caesars currently has an $8.6 billion market cap. We believe it could trade 50% to 100% higher within the next 12-24 months.
CZR as it exists today was formed in July 2020 by the merger of legacy Caesars Entertainment and Eldorado Resorts. Eldorado’s management, led by CEO Tom Reeg, who has an outstanding track record of increasing shareholder value, took over CZR’s operations. Reeg’s focus on maximizing long-term FCF and deleveraging the business aligns with shareholders’ interests. He holds 700,000 shares when fully vested (worth $25 million)…” (Click here to read the full text)
Overall, CZR ranks 1st on our list of the best high short interest stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the growth potential of CZR, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold great promise for delivering high returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CZR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
