5 Short Squeeze Candidates To Watch: Progenity Tops List Again, Cassava Sciences Joins Following Short Report

Potential short squeeze plays have gained steam in 2021 with new retail traders looking for the next GameStop Corp GME or AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC.

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 Nov. 8.

Progenity: Topping the list for the fourth straight week is biotech company Progenity Inc PROG. Fintel data shows the company having 35% of its float short. Short interest in PROG has increased 789% since the end of July. Fintel said the next short interest report comes out on Nov. 9, which could show even more shares short for PROG.

The stock is mentioned as a meme-stock favorite and short-sellers favorite by Fintel and continues to lead the way on the weekly short squeeze potential leaderboard.

Cassava Sciences: Biotech company Cassava Sciences Inc SAVA is targeting treating Alzheimer’s Disease. The company was targeted by a short report from Quintessential Capital last week that included the launch of a new website targeting the company. Shares dipped briefly on the short report before rocketing from the $55 level to more than $90 late in the week.

Fintel shows 25% of the total float of SAVA shorted. Short interest is up 260% from February.

Related Link: 5 Short Squeeze Candidates to Watch: Progenity Tops List Again, Augmented Reality Play WiMi Hologram Joins 

Big 5 Sporting Goods: Specialty retailer Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp BGFV joins the short squeeze leaderboard with 41.9% of the company’s float short. Short interest in the company is up 60% since mid-February. The sporting goods retailer has also seen the borrowing fee on shares increase recently, which could set it up for a squeeze.

AerSale Corp: Aviation company AerSale Corp ASLE moves up one spot on the Fintel leaderboard. Fintel reports 31.6% of the float short, which is the same as last week. Short interest in the company has been “increasing rapidly in the last few weeks,” according to the report.

BriaCell Therapeutics: Biotechnology company BriaCell Therapeutics Corp BCTX is no stranger to the short squeeze leaderboard and comes in at fifth place this week. Fintel reports 16% of the total float in BCTX short. A cost to borrow of 39.9% is the highest of the top five names on the list. Short interest has declined in the last report, but remains up significantly from July.

GROM Social Enterprises GROM was left off the leaderboard due to a market cap under $100 million. The company would have come in at third on the list.