Hedge funds are placing their bets on blue-chip stocks like Walmart.

U.S. stocks have been volatile, and hedge funds seem to be betting on blue-chip stocks like Walmart, which can provide stable returns while selling clean energy stocks like Enphase Energy.

Bank of America Securities on Monday released a list of the most shorted and most longed stocks by hedge funds. The bank compiled the list by measuring the ratio of short interest (the total value of hedge funds' bearish bets) to the float (the total value of a company's shares available for purchase on the open market).

Investors have flocked to consumer staples stocks in 2025, as consumer confidence has been falling despite a solid U.S. economic backdrop. The SPDR Select Consumer Staples ETF has returned 5.7% year to date, easily beating the S&P 500's 1.2% return.

Walmart, the least shorted stock on the market, according to the Bank of America survey, has a short interest of just 0.45% of its float. Philip Morris and Mastercard round out the top five, with all of their short interests far below 1%.

Walmart's stock price fell more than 6% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings last month, but has since recovered most of those losses. Analysts believe Walmart's rapidly growing online market should help boost its margins and take a larger share of the U.S. retail market.

The most shorted stock by hedge funds is Enphase Energy, a solar company, with a short interest of more than 16.7%. Super Micro Computer, Albermarle, which produces lithium for electric vehicle batteries, Moderna, a pharmaceutical company, and Fox are all close behind, with short interests of more than 10%.