Hedge funds are betting billions that a stock loved by millennials will plummet (NVDA)

Nvidia has surged by 95% since last year's US election, making it the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 over the period. Now hedge funds and millennial investors are divided over its outlook.
The stock is the fourth most shorted by hedge funds, judging by dollar amount of short interest, according to a Goldman Sachs study.
It's also the sixth-most-owned stock holding for millennial investors, according to the no-fee trading app Robinhood.

A battle is brewing over the best-performing stock since last year's US election.

The company in question is Nvidia, which has enjoyed a particularly charmed existence since November 8. The graphics-chip maker's stock price has exploded 95% higher since then, the biggest gain in the S&P 500 by almost 30 percentage points.

On one hand, the company has been targeted by large speculators as a stock likely to decline, as reflected by the roughly $3 billion in short positions held by hedge funds. That's the fourth-highest level of short interest out of companies analyzed by Goldman Sachs, which combed through 821 funds holding a combined $1.9 trillion.

But it's also one of the favorite stocks for millennial investors. According to the investment startup Robinhood, Nvidia is the sixth-most-owned stock on its entire platform.

What's more, options traders don't seem particularly concerned about lofty valuations.

They're paying the lowest premium in nearly three years to protect against a 10% decline in Nvidia's stock over the next three months, relative to bets on a 10% increase, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In fact, options investors are almost paying more to bet on further gains than to hedge, a rare occurrence for the stock.

Nvidia also turned in a blockbuster earnings report earlier this month, spiking by 18%, the most in six months. The company was helped by strong demand for its chips that are used by major cloud-computing providers in data centers.

In the grand scheme of things, this discrepancy between large institutions and individual investors is nothing new to the stock market. The tug-of-war is indicative of the scenario that usually plays out when a stock goes on a torrid run like the one seen by Nvidia.

Some people get drawn in by the hype and the prospect of a quick profit, while others get worried that valuations are overextended. In the end, the conflicting forces are healthy for the market, which is most susceptible to large shocks when euphoria is peaking.

Hedge funds are betting billions that a stock loved by millennials will plummet (NVDA)

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