5 Short Squeeze Candidates To Watch: Support.com, Takung, Among Others

Potential short squeeze plays have gained steam in 2021 with new retail traders looking for the next huge move. GameStop Corp. GME and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC are two high-profile examples of short squeezes earlier this year.

A short squeeze can occur when a heavily shorted stock rises in value instead of falling. Short sellers could be looking to close out their position and can face a loss if they have to buy back the shares they initially borrowed at a higher price.

Fintel Data: Data from Fintel, which requires a subscription, provides a look at some of the top shorted stocks and the data that shows how likely a short squeeze is to happen.

Here is a look at Fintel’s top five short squeeze candidates for the week of Sept. 13.

1. Support.com: No stranger to the list of short squeeze potentials is Support.com Inc SPRT. The stock came in at third place last week after previously topping the Fintel list.

The cloud-based software company has been a popular short squeeze candidate for traders.

Fintel data shows short interest at 74% of the company’s float. This is an increase from last week's 66.5%.

Fintel reports a growing increase in the number of shares float and a decreasing number of shares in the float, making it a possible short squeeze candidate.

SPRT shares went from $37.88 to $22.18 two weeks ago and fell to under $20 to start this week. Shares surged to $59.69 recently and have shown that they can move quickly on a squeeze.

Related Link: 5 Short Squeeze Candidates To Watch: Support.com, Lightning eMotors, ATIF Holdings And More 

2. Aterian: Consumer products company Aterian Inc ATER is new to the list and comes in second place with a short interest rate of 36% of the float and a borrow fee rate of 86%.

Short interest in the company has increased over the last four weeks, Fintel notes. If short sellers continue to pour into the name, the borrow fee could increase and a squeeze could potentially happen.

Shares of Aterian went from $3 to $13 over the last month and are trading up 41% to $16.77 on Monday.

3. Vinco Ventures: Well-known retail trader stock Vinco Ventures Inc BBIG comes in third place on Fintel’s list of potential short squeezes this week. The company has appeared on the list frequently.

Vinco Ventures short interest has increased from 11.6 million shares to 15.7 million shares. Fintel reports the borrow fee for BBIG shares are 146%, making it one of the most expensive names to borrow. Last week, the company had a borrow fee of 79.7%.

BBIG shares went from $8 to $10 last week, an increase after some potential profit-taking last week on a move from $3 to $10 had previously happened.

4. Takung Art Co: Known as one of several companies involved in the NFT space, shares of Takung Art Co Ltd TKAT have been on a wild ride in 2021.

Fintel sees a potential short squeeze for TKAT shares given 17.3% of its float is now short, compared to 6.4% in the prior week. The company also has a borrow fee of 123%, one of the highest seen by Fintel. The amount of shares short increased over 171%, topping the list in terms of the percent gain in short shares.

TKAT shares have traded between $0.78 and $74.11 over the last 52 weeks. The company has a market cap of $111 million and a float of only 5.78 million shares.

5. Bit Mining: Cryptocurrency mining company Bit Mining Ltd - ADR BTCM comes in fifth place on the Fintel short squeeze candidate list for the second straight week. The company mines Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum ETH/USD and often moves in relation to the price of the top two cryptocurrencies.

Fintel reports 18.7% of Bit Mining’s float is short and the company has a borrow rate of 155%. The borrow fee for BTCM has been in the 100% and higher range for many weeks and is up from last week’s reported 147%.

BTCM shares went from $8 to $12 at the start of September and have traded flat or down since then.

Photo by Carlos Esteves on Unsplash