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 Cytokinetics Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) 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 lab technician using a microscope to examine the biopharmaceutical company's molecules.

Cytokinetics Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK)

Short % of Float As of April 16: 18.43%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 66

Cytokinetics Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and commercializes muscle activators and inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases. It develops small-molecule drug candidates that are primarily engineered to impact muscle function and contractility.

The company’s main focus for near-term growth is aficamten, which is a cardiac myosin inhibitor. In anticipation of potential approval, Cytokinetics is focused on commercial readiness activities in the US, while also laying the groundwork for its go-to-market strategy in Europe. It’s actively responding to FDA questions, preparing for clinical site inspections, and has recently submitted its 120-day safety update.  Cytokinetics plans to commercialize aficamten itself in the US and Western Europe.

In Q4 2024, Sanofi acquired the rights to develop and commercialize aficamten in China, with Cytokinetics eligible to receive up to $150 million in development and commercial milestone payments and royalties in the low to high teens on sales. In November 2024, a collaboration with Bayer granted Cytokinetics Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) a license agreement for aficamten in Japan, which included a EUR50 million upfront payment.

Overall, CYTK ranks 3rd on our list of the best high short interest stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the growth potential of CYTK, 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 CYTK 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.