Shares of Pandora, a Danish jewelry maker and retailer have jumped to 64% this year, leading the OMX Copenhagen 20 and 25, which heads country indexes worldwide during this time.

The advance derives as short interest in the stock, which was the most aimed in the Stoxx 600 Personal & Household Goods Index prior to the pandemic, fell to less than 2% of shares outstanding from around 12% in February.

A Sydbank analyst, Per Fogh stated that when Pandora exhibited signs that the growth was returning, Hedge funds started leaving. The short sellers are closing the position and united with the optimistic sentiment on growth which has given the stock a major boost. 

WorldQuant and Viking Global Investors are among hedge funds that have decreased their short position in Pandora to under the 0.5% reporting threshold

Pandora has not been resistant to the pandemic's effect on sales, but the investors are positive about the brand’s recovery projections, which began to gain traction before the lockdown started.

Earlier this year, the company sold shares to clear the loans, with Danish state-managed fund ATP, breaking the stock in the private placement.

The head at equities at ATP, Claus Wiinblad state that before the global lockdown, the company has been through a turnaround process. ATP holds a 3.1% share in Pandora. He further added that the company was clear about the scenarios it might witness and created strategies that would safeguard enough liquidity even if the pandemic grew in the most negative way

Pandora was started in 1982 and specializes in rings, necklaces, and bracelets and holds a market value of around 47.5 billion Danish kroner.

Alexander Lacik, the CEO joined in 2019 after a cord of departures from the top management. The brand has been reestablished since then with the company predicting the Ebit margin to be in a range of 16% to 19% this year compared with around 27% last year.

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/business/danish-jewellery-maker-pandora-tops-worlds-best-performing-market