Stop sign with Short Squeeze text

Avis Brings Back The Short Squeeze — Navitas, Beyond Meat Join In

CAR Keeps Squeezing

Shares of Avis are up 9.23% to $665 Tuesday, capping a staggering rally that has seen the stock surge 500% over recent weeks from lows in the $80s — a move that has left short sellers bleeding. 

Barclays downgraded CAR to Sell Monday after the run, noting short interest near 100%. The downgrade has done nothing to stop the momentum. 

According to Benzinga data, short interest stood near 54% of the free float as recently as late March, with an elevated days-to-cover that amplifies every uptick. 

A stake disclosure from Pentwater Capital added fuel to the fire, and options gamma dynamics have market makers scrambling to hedge by buying shares — creating a classic feedback loop where rising prices force more covering, which drives prices higher still.

Potential Squeezes

Earlier this month, traders purchased over 80,000 call options on NVTS, representing a 134% spike versus the daily average. 

With 28% of the float sold short, the setup looks textbook. Fundamentals remain weak — quarterly revenue cratered 59% year-over-year — but in a meme tape, that’s beside the point.

Elsewhere in the heavily-shorted universe, Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID) is pushing 9.34% higher to $7.38 despite persistent analyst bearishness and a short float exceeding 52%. 

Opendoor Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:OPEN) is up 8.97% to $5.83, with 14.5% of the float short. 

ImmunityBio Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) sits at $8.16, relatively quiet but with 43.2% of the float short and 120 million shares sold short — a powder keg should a catalyst emerge.

The broad meme tape revival echoes familiar dynamics: a frothy risk-on environment, speculative retail participation and short sellers caught offside in names with structural weaknesses that the market is temporarily choosing to ignore. 

History suggests these moves can last longer — and go higher — than almost anyone expects, before reversing just as violently.

Photo: Mino Surkala / Shutterstock

This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.