Short Sellers Watch Chegg Shares Race for Record High

CHGG was last seen up nearly 10% in electronic trading

The shares of education technology company Chegg Inc (NYSE:CHGG) are set to rally once again after earnings, after the firm's fourth-quarter financial update revealed better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the period. The company continued to add subscribers and raised its 2019 outlook, as well. A few bullish analyst notes have followed, pushing CHGG shares up 9.5% in pre-market trading -- a move that would put them in record-high territory at the open.

But starting with the analyst attention, no fewer than five firms have upped their views on Chegg, and the highest price target was set by Craig-Hallum at $45, raised from their previous mark of $34. There's room for an extended round of bull notes going forward, if you consider five of the nine brokerage firm covering the security have just "hold" ratings at the moment, and that the shares today could rise above the average 12-month price target of $37.40.

There's been a lot of activity from short sellers, too, who control 12.7% of the float. Going by the equity's average daily trading volumes, this accounts for 9.70 days' worth of buying power, suggesting there's plenty of short-covering potential for CHGG stock.

The security -- which has more than doubled year-over-year -- touched a record high of $36.05 one week back, benefiting from an impressive series of earnings wins over the past year and late-2018 support from its 50-week moving average.