Slack Stock Downgraded On Competition Concerns

WORK earlier nabbed a record low

The shares of Slack Technologies Inc (NYSE:WORK) are down 1.5% to trade at $19.95, after Wedbush initiated coverage on the software name with an "underpeform" rating. While setting a price target of $14 -- a 31% downside to yesterday's close at $20.34 -- the analyst in coverage cited the threat of Microsoft's (MSFT) Teams application as a growth inhibitor.

It's been an ugly debut on the charts for Slack stock. The shares earlier touched a new record low of $19.69, and have now shed 47% since opening at $38.50 on June 20. During this decline, the newly formed 40-day moving average has kept a tight lid on breakouts since August.

Short sellers have piled on at a tremendous rate. Short interest increased by 70% in the two most recent reporting period to a record high 39.03 million shares. This takes up 20% of WORK's total available float, and 4.8 times the average daily trading volume.

Long calls have been in favor in the options pits, though. In the last 10 days, 23,435 calls were bought to open at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), compared to 7,172 puts. However, given the amount of short interest tied up into the stock, it's possible some of these calls could be shorts seeking an options hedge against any unexpected upside.