Traders bearish on Alibaba pending SEC probe

New York

TRADERS have never been more bearish on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the fast-growing Chinese e-commerce company facing a regulatory probe and the loss of a key investor.

The total number of outstanding shares borrowed for short selling peaked at more than 124 million last week. That's the most since its 2014 initial public offering and is up from about 60 million in December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Markit Ltd.

Prominent short sellers including Jim Chanos and John Hempton have been red-flagging Alibaba for months, suggesting that its growth figures might be too good to be true. Bearish bets spiked in the past two weeks after the company disclosed a regulatory probe of its Chinese delivery unit and SoftBa…