Short squeezes are incredibly rare events. Stocks that are heavily shorted are usually in that position because the underlying business is distressed or overvalued. Chasing short squeezes is highly speculative, volatile, and dangerous. Data is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.
A short squeeze is a market phenomenon that occurs when a heavily shorted asset experiences a rapid increase in price. Short sellers borrow shares and sell them, hoping to buy them back later at a lower price. However, if the price starts to rise unexpectedly, these short sellers begin to accrue losses.
To cut their losses or meet margin calls, short sellers are forced to buy the stock back to return the borrowed shares. This aggressive buying pressure drives the stock price even higher, forcing more short sellers to cover, creating a cascading feedback loop of upward price momentum.
We've filtered U.S. equities with a market capitalization over $100M and average volume over 500K to identify those with the highest short interest as a percentage of float. The "Squeeze Prob" score is a proprietary ranking metric calculated by multiplying Short % by Days to Cover.
| Ticker | Company | Short % of Float | Days to Cover | Market Cap | 1W Perf | 1M Perf | Squeeze Prob |
|---|
The most famous short squeeze in modern history. GameStop had a short interest exceeding 140% of its float—meaning more shares were shorted than actually existed. A massive influx of retail buying, coordinated on social media, combined with a gamma squeeze from options trading, sent the stock from under $5 to over $120 (split-adjusted) in weeks.
Following in GME's footsteps, the struggling theater chain had over 20% short interest. Supported by retail enthusiasm and a reopening economy catalyst, AMC squeezed from $2 to over $70, severely punishing institutional short sellers.
During the retail trading frenzy of mid-2021, Clover Health became a major target for the Reddit crowd. With high short interest and retail traders looking for the "next GME," CLOV experienced a massive influx of volume, causing the stock to squeeze from around $9 to over $28 in just a few days.
Short interest data sourced from FINRA and exchange reports, published with a standard reporting lag of 1-2 weeks. Short ratios calculated from shares short divided by average daily trading volume.
Westmount Fundamentals. "Short Squeeze Candidates March 2026: Stocks Most Likely t...." westmountfundamentals.com/short-squeeze-candidates-march-2026, 2026.