Sentiment among corporate insiders has plunged to an unprecedented low, as evidenced by the substantial insider selling activity seen in recent months.

What Happened: On Tuesday, a post on X by The Kobeissi Letter highlighted that across most public equities, insiders have been net sellers this year. “Insiders have rarely been this bearish before,” it says.

“Only 11.1% of companies with insider activity are seeing more buying than selling by corporate officers and directors,” the post says, noting that these figures mark “the lowest share on record.”

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“This means insiders were net sellers in almost 90% of companies with recent transactions,” which is seen as a key indicator for the markets, since insiders are often viewed as having the most informed outlook on their companies and respective sectors.

Historically, it has held well above current levels, the post notes, never having fallen below 15% over the past decade, highlighting the growing pessimism among corporate insiders in recent months.

The post notes that “insiders were either neutral or negative in 10 of the 11 S&P 500 sectors,” the only exception being “utilities,” which showed positive sentiment during this period.

“Selling was also broad-based across company sizes, from small to large-cap stocks,” it says, referring to it as “an interesting divergence.”

Why It Matters: Utilities have been a bright spot this past year, amid the volatility and macro uncertainties. The Vanguard Utilities Index Fund ETF (NYSE:VPU) is up 20% from its one-year trough, hitting its 52-week high this week.

Investors have flocked to utilities owing to trade and tariff-related uncertainties in recent months, leading the sector to hit fresh highs not seen since 2024.

Photo Courtesy: Hernan E. Schmidt on Shutterstock.com

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