While earnings season often provides companies an opportunity to tout their latest successes, some firms are expected to fall flat on their face.
Of those companies announcing earnings this week, subprime lender World Acceptance has been the most shorted stock ahead of quarterly announcement, followed closely by IT firm Neustar, according to data from Markit.
With almost a third of its shares outstanding on loan, World Acceptance is actually less shorted than in April when it had over 40 percent on loan, according to Markit.
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Markit also found that the company seeing the largest jump in shorted stock is oil rig leaser Hercules Offshore. The company "has seen its short interest more than double in the last four weeks after announcing the loss of two forecasted contracts, which had many investors questioning the strength of the company's backlog of work," Markit analyst Simon Colvin wrote.
And while shorts are piling into Hercules Offshore and biofuel marketer and producer Pacific Ethanol, Markit found that Hawaiian Holdings—parent of Hawaiian Airlines—is seeing the biggest decrease in its shares on loan.
Here's the rest of Markit's list:
| Name | Ticker | % Shares Outstanding On Loan | 1 Month % Change | Industry | Earnings Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Acceptance Corp | WRLD | 30.9 | 1% | Consumer Finance | 7/22/2014 |
| Neustar Inc | NSR | 30.4 | -7% | IT Services | 7/23/2014 |
| Cliffs Natural Resources Inc | CLF | 29.5 | 3% | Metals & Mining | 7/25/2014 |
| Irobot Corp | IRBT | 29.3 | -2% | Household Durables | 7/22/2014 |
| Jetblue Airways Corp | JBLU | 27.6 | 1% | Airlines | 7/24/2014 |
| Chemed Corp | CHE | 26.7 | 0% | Health Care Providers & Services | 7/23/2014 |
| Exact Sciences Corp | EXAS | 25.0 | -7% | Biotechnology | 7/22/2014 |
| Janus Capital Group Inc | JNS | 21.4 | 2% | Capital Markets | 7/23/2014 |
| Wesco International Inc | WCC | 20.2 | 3% | Trading Companies & Distributors | 7/24/2014 |
| Hercules Offshore Inc | HERO | 20.1 | 108% | Energy Equipment & Services | 7/23/2014 |
| Theravance Inc | THRX | 18.9 | 5% | Pharmaceuticals | 7/25/2014 |
| Acacia Research Corp | ACTG | 17.6 | -5% | Professional Services | 7/24/2014 |
| Pacific Ethanol Inc | PEIX | 17.4 | 34% | Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels | 7/24/2014 |
| Healthways Inc | HWAY | 16.1 | -9% | Health Care Providers & Services | 7/23/2014 |
| Verisign Inc | VRSN | 15.9 | 4% | Internet Software & Services | 7/24/2014 |
| Hawaiian Holdings Inc | HA | 15.6 | -9% | Airlines | 7/22/2014 |
| Titan International Inc | TWI | 15.0 | -7% | Machinery | 7/24/2014 |
| Abaxis Inc | ABAX | 14.8 | 2% | Health Care Equipment & Supplies | 7/25/2014 |
| Cabela's Inc | CAB | 14.7 | -5% | Specialty Retail | 7/24/2014 |
| Proto Labs Inc | PRLB | 14.5 | 12% | Machinery | 7/24/2014 |
Source: Markit Equities Research
Internationally, Finnish construction company Yit and Swiss tech firm Logitech were the most shorted European stocks with 12.1 percent and 11 percent of outstanding share on loan, respectively.
In Asia, the bears are out on semiconductors, with Advantest and ASM Pacific Technology both in the top three most shorted stocks, according to Markit.
This earnings season may prove tough for those holding shorts. Some 67 percent of S&P 500 companies that have already reported this quarter announced revenue above analyst expectations, and 68 percent have beaten on earnings, according to data from Thomson Reuters.
This exceeds long-term averages in Reuters figures of 61 percent beating on the top line and 63 percent beating on earnings.
The most shorted stock in the is GameStop, followed closely by Cablevision Systems, according to FactSet.
—By CNBC's Everett Rosenfeld