Short Interest in Rakuten, Inc. (OTCMKTS:RKUNY) Grows By 207.8%

Rakuten, Inc. (OTCMKTS:RKUNY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 159,107 shares, an increase of 207.8% from the April 15th total of 51,693 shares. Approximately 0.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 131,350 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Rakuten Stock Performance

OTCMKTS RKUNY traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $4.96. The stock had a trading volume of 35,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 48,533. Rakuten has a 52-week low of $4.50 and a 52-week high of $7.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.90 and a 200 day moving average of $5.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.11, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market cap of $10.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.18 and a beta of 1.15.

Rakuten (OTCMKTS:RKUNY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Rakuten had a negative net margin of 7.13% and a negative return on equity of 14.73%. Sell-side analysts predict that Rakuten will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Zacks Research raised shares of Rakuten from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Rakuten Company Profile

Rakuten, Inc is a diversified internet services company based in Tokyo, Japan, and founded in 1997 by Hiroshi Mikitani, who continues to serve as chairman and chief executive officer. Originally established as an online marketplace, Rakuten has expanded its reach to become a global technology group offering a wide range of digital services and consumer-facing platforms. The company is listed in Japan but its American depositary receipts trade over the counter under the symbol RKUNY.

At the core of Rakuten’s business is its e-commerce marketplace, Rakuten Ichiba, which hosts millions of merchants and serves tens of millions of customers across Japan and other key markets.