The Short Interest Monitor

Some traders target stocks with high short interest, either to speculate on companies that are already under pressure or to take a contrarian stance on crowded bearish trades. In the latter case, the aim is typically to participate in a short squeeze—a scenario that can quickly drive prices higher. However, finding heavily shorted stocks without paid data services can be a challenge.

In this series, we aim to change that. Using data from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Schwab.com, we'll track stocks that have experienced a recent rise in short interest. All featured equities will have a market cap of at least $2 billion and short interest equal to at least 10% of their total outstanding shares.

The goal is to help short-term traders and long-term investors better gauge market sentiment, monitor positioning trends, and spot potential red flags in specific stocks.

Just remember, targeting battleground stocks is a high-risk tactic. Equities with high or rising short interest may have deteriorating fundamentals, rising competition, regulatory concerns, or other issues that could continue to weigh on their prices. Additionally, the competing positions of long shareholders and short sellers can lead to increased volatility and liquidity issues. And a single event—like a positive earnings report or lawsuit outcome—can quickly shift narratives, leading to unexpected price moves.

Finally, short sellers should keep in mind that highly shorted stocks often come with equally high borrowing fees that can weigh on returns. Dividend payments are also deducted from short seller accounts on the pay date, and losses from short selling are theoretically unlimited.

Before jumping into this week's rising short interest list, let's define a few key terms and discuss the limitations of the FINRA data used in this series.  

FINRA requires broker-dealers to report total open short positions for all the equity securities on their books twice monthly. It then compiles this data and releases it to the public on the seventh business day after the reporting settlement date. However, FINRA's short interest report does not include off-exchange short sale trades; it only reflects a snapshot of short positions held by brokerage firms on two specific days each month. For more information, review FINRA's article titled "Short Interest — What It Is, What It Is Not." 

Our bi-weekly article will also include four key statistics worth defining: current short interest, percentage short interest change from the prior reporting period, days to cover, and short interest as a percentage of shares outstanding:

• Current short interest represents the total number of open short positions held on brokerage firms' books for a given security as reported by FINRA.  
• Percentage change from the prior reporting period reflects the percentage increase or decrease in the total number of open short positions for a given security compared to the previous reporting cycle.
• Days to cover measures how many days—at average daily volume—it would take for all short sellers to buy back their borrowed shares and close their positions. Higher numbers typically indicate a stronger bearish conviction and greater risk of a short squeeze.
• Short interest as a percentage of shares outstanding represents the portion of a company's tradable shares that are currently sold short and not yet covered. A ratio above 10% is typically considered high, while a ratio of 20% or higher indicates more severe bearish sentiment and a higher potential for a short squeeze. 

The latest FINRA report highlights a few names that have made headlines in recent weeks.

For example, Strategy (MSTR), formerly known as MicroStrategy, saw a 16.7% rise in its current short interest compared to the previous reporting period. The enterprise-software-firm-turned-bitcoin-treasury company officially became the most heavily shorted U.S. large-cap stock on February 25 after the release of FINRA's latest short interest data. Its short interest as a percentage of shares outstanding rose to 12.1% that day. Bitcoin's prolonged pullback has weighed on MSTR's stock since last July. The company currently holds more than 715,000 bitcoins at an average price of around $76,000, well above bitcoin's average market price in February.

Duolingo (DUOL) was another target of the bears in the first two weeks of February. The education technology company's current short interest rose 26.5% from the previous reporting period. Nearly 19% of DUOL shares outstanding are now sold short as some investors anticipate pressure from AI-driven language tools. DUOL stock is also down nearly 80% from its May 2025 all-time high.

Investors took a more bearish posture toward The Campbell's Company (CPB) in early February as well. Known for its canned soup and other food staples, the company has faced steadily declining sales in recent years. CPB's current short interest jumped 11.4% from the previous reporting period. Its days-to-cover metric also rose to 5.6, a level that typically signals moderate to high bearish sentiment and could suggest the potential for more buying pressure from short sellers in the event of a stock price jump.

Check out the table below to see our list of 10 stocks with elevated and rising short interest.