5 Short Squeeze Candidates To Watch: Aterian, Marin On List Again, Plus 3 New Small-Cap Medical Plays

Potential short squeeze plays have gained steam in 2021 with new retail traders looking for the next GameStop Corp GME and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC, two stocks that attracted strong interest and saw shares spike.

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 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 Oct. 4.

Biomerica: Medical company Biomerica Inc BMRA tops the list for the week with a score of 97.16. The company has 9.4% of its free float shorted and a borrow cost of 46.1%. Shares traded under $4 in August and have seen a steady rise since then.

Last week, the company announced a new deal for its colon disease screening test with Walmart Inc WMT. Fintel sees investors likely continuing to accumulate shares and put pressure on shorts with the possibility of a short squeeze and margin calls.

Related Link: Biomeria's Shares Gain As Its Colon Disease Screening Test Goes For Sale At Walmart Online 

Progenity: Small-cap biotechnology company Progenity PROG comes in second this week with 37.9% of shares short and a borrow fee of 39.2%. Shares more than doubled last week from under $1 to a high of $2.20 and could continue to see interest with the high percent of the float short and a high borrow fee.

Cellect Biotechnology: With a market capitalization of under $25 million, Cellect Biotechnology APOP is one of the smallest short squeeze candidates to appear on Fintel’s list. A borrow fee of 102.9% ranks first among the top five candidates. Cellect has 30.6% of its float traded short. Shares spiked last week to new 52-week highs of $29.80 before falling the rest of the week.

Aterian: Last week’s top candidate Aterian ATER falls to fourth place. The consumer products company has been a frequent top-five candidate. The company has 31.8% of its float short and a borrow fee of 80.7%, both down from the previous week. Aterian has 7.5 million shares short, up 71% over the last few weeks. Shares traded down last week going below $10 for the first time since mid-September.

Marin Software: Cloud-based advertising company Marin Software MRIN appears on the list for the second straight week. The company has a borrow fee of 42.7% and 9.2% of its float short. Marin announced a new deal with Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL, which saw shares double last week.