In this Citron Research review, we look at how Andrew Left built one of the most talked-about short-selling firms on Wall Street and how the GameStop saga changed everything.
Citron Research has been around for 14 years. Their newsletter and stock commentary have been popular amongst traders. As a research company and hedge fund, they were in the news recently because of GameStop. Their shorts of $GME and the fallout from that have become legendary.
Before 2021, we wouldn’t have been looking for a Citron Research review. After what happened in January, Citron wasn’t on anyone’s radar. Then GameStop happened. Before that, they were a well-respected and reliable company. Are they still that? Yes
What Is Citron Research? (2026 Overview)
Citron Research provides an online newsletter looking at overvalued stocks. Why? Short selling is their bread and butter. So their newsletter looks for overvalued companies, and the hedge fund shorts them.
So, for us small traders, it would be beneficial to have some advice to back us up on the stocks we’d like to short. There is tons of research available on the market that tells us to buy this stock.
And tons more to tell us why the stock is good and why one must invest. However, there’s very little research available for shorting stocks.
History has taught us that all weak and fraudulent companies eventually succumb to their issues and destroy shareholder wealth. Andrew Left recognized this gap from his experiences and launched Citron Research in 2001 to publish only short-selling reports exclusively.
Most of us who have ever dabbled in the stock market buy stocks based on what we feel or hear. This is where Citron comes into play. As a company that researches stocks, you want to know what they say.
Researching penny stocks will yield different results than researching a stock like Apple ($AAPL). We’re proud of ourselves when we make a good trade based on our learning. The saying “Buy the rumor, sell the news” is incredibly accurate. Where do you get your news? From a place like Citron.
Our Citron Research review found that the firm’s reports once moved markets, exposing frauds and inflated valuations before shifting to a long-only focus after 2021.
Who Owns Citron Research?
Andres Left owns Citron Research. After a terrible experience being forced to push shady investments to unsuspecting customers, Andrew began shorting stocks full-time, writing and publishing free research reports on firms he felt were overvalued or engaged in fraud. He founded StockLemon.com in 2001 and later rebranded as Citron Research in 2007. Then, I began publishing controversial reports on these weak and fraudulent companies via a blog.
How Citron Research Works
He was prominent in his role at Valeant Pharmaceuticals, taking on Bill Ackman, who was on the board of Valeant then. His series of reports began an investigation by Senator Bernie Sanders.
They exposed the channel stuffing and sham transactions that Valeant used to inflate drug sales. His reports pushed the SEC to investigate and eventually expose the fraud.
As a result, Valeant shares dropped 90% from their peak. Imagine shorting a share at $100 and seeing it fall to $10 quickly. That’s the attraction of short selling.
Citron Research has a history of publishing accurate and effective reports. As Andrew Left claimed in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), “Fortunately, I have been more right than wrong.”
According to the WSJ, out of the 111 reports published from 2001 to 2014, there was an average decline of 42% in the year after the report was published.
Of those 111 companies, shares of 90 were lower in the next year, and 21 were higher. This is a pretty impressive track record.
And one that is commendable and dependable for retail traders like us, compared to the numerous buy reports we see generated on those same shady stocks.
How Citron Research Works
While the profits we make are small, the losses we bear are huge. Most of us lose money on our purchases when the stocks we buy crash to the ground faster than a drunk on a Friday night.
We begin to wonder, is there a way to make money on these falling companies? And the answer is Yes: via short selling. How does shorting work? In short selling, a person borrows shares from the broker and sells them in the market, hoping to buy them back at a lower price in the future. For example, if I want to short Blockbuster at $100, I’ll borrow some Blockbuster shares from my broker and sell them in the market at $100.
Bad news comes, and it falls to $70. I’ll buy them back and return them to the broker, making a cool profit of $30. Like the law of gravity in the real world, where things fall faster than they rise, markets also fall faster than they rise.
As a result, you are short-selling, which is an attractive venture. However, the risks in short selling are humongous. When you purchase a share, you’ll lose the maximum amount as the share goes to zero.
It cannot go below zero. There’s no upper ceiling to a share price, however. Hence, shorts are theoretically exposed to unlimited risk if the prices keep increasing. And one can lose more than the entire amount. In some cases, they even become bankrupt.
How Much Does Citron Research Cost?
Citron Research posts analysis and research on overpriced companies. They don’t sell a service or product because it seems like they want to use public analysis to influence a market rather than selling products.
Short Selling Bastion
Short sellers are the last bastion for exposing fraud and bad companies. They’re the ones who put their money on the line and are willing to search every nook and cranny for the evidence.
They, however, get a bad rep because a company’s stock price falls due to the exposure of their issues. Successful and large companies have managed to demonize short sellers and their work.
It doesn’t help that they make their money when others lose theirs. However, many in the retail segment don’t realize that short selling allows one to gain control of one’s fortunes.
Instead of becoming a victim of fraudulent company practices. A company allowing retail traders to participate in this and win instead of lose has to be promoted and revered. Instead of being reviled like Citron Research was.
The GameStop Phenomenon
Citron Research emerged in the limelight with its short position and recommendation on GameStop. This is where this Citron Research review came from.
Their report was valid and made business sense of GameStop’s failure to compete with digital gaming platforms. And there was the accelerated demise of retail due to the pandemic, which compounded their problems.
As a result, this short position was overloaded by certain hedge funds, who let their greed overcome all risk control measures.
r/WallStreetBets
The Reddit group r/wallstreetbets, initially considered a bunch of amateurs, proved that their research on the GameStop short position was solid and well-executed.
So, while the short squeeze was directed toward those hedge funds, Citron Research also got caught in the frenzy. Attacks began on Andrew Left and Citron Research.
This soon turned personal when Left’s social media accounts were hacked, a fake Tinder profile was created, and people ordered pizza at his home.
Left and Citron Research declared that they’ll stop publishing short reports. They had already covered their short position in GameStop at a significant loss.
When prompted for this change, Andrew stated that he had started Citron Research to stand against the establishment and protect the retail traders from Wall Street.
But after 20 years, he felt that they had become the establishment. Citron Research had begun publishing reports for buying stocks a few years ago.
So he announced they’ll now focus on making recommendations for buying stocks only.
Final Thoughts on Citron Research
Only time will tell the effects of the loss of this research firm. But one thing’s for sure: this will be a distinct disadvantage to retail traders who want to save themselves from bad and fraudulent investments.
Our Citron Research review concludes that Citron still plays a role in market commentary, but its short-selling legacy will always be what traders remember most.
