Hard to say...
The November 30th made money, the December 31 made at most 0.20, the January 29th lost a lot unless they sold quickly because it went up from 1.45 to 3.85 pre RS.
If I were to guess, they may have known that "something" was about to happen (like the RS) but they misjudged which way the stock would go.
It always depends on when they bought it back of course.
27.610 shares in December is only 55 shares post RS and Jan was about the same... so I think they are playing more than confident.
The most recent one of May 14th, 4903 actual shares shorted is the most substantial and they sold between 0.90 and 0.95, so no profit there and if they are still short, they are losing a fair bit.
Shorting a stock like LBSR is extremely risky because unless you are the one manipulating the stock or know what is going to happen and when, you could lose a fortune.
Keep in mind that if the stock crashes tomorrow and we lose everything we invested, that's all we can lose. Zero is where it ends for us.
But if you short the stock, you can lose a fortune, because there is no limit to how HIGH a stock can go.