Highest Borrow-Fee Stocks Today: September 1, 2026 — Hard-to-Borrow Rates
ATPC carries the highest borrow fee in the market-wide ranking at 652.5% annualized as of September 1, 2026, with 17 names sitting in the hard-to-borrow or extreme tier.
TL;DR: As of 10:50 PM ET on September 1, 2026, ATPC carries the highest IBKR borrow fee in Tapeboard's market-wide ranking at 652.5% annualized. The next two names are NCPL at 640.2% and JZ at 621.0% annualized.
The costliest name to borrow on a market-wide basis is ATPC at 652.5% annualized as of September 1, 2026. Fees on today's list span 2.8% to 652.5% annualized; the median is 25.4%. Honest context matters here: borrow fee rates in the triple-digit range typically flag distressed, very-low-float, or nearly un-locatable names rather than conventional short squeeze setups. A high fee is a cost-to-short signal — evidence of scarcity in the lending pool — not a bullish signal on its own.
Today's Hard-to-Borrow Rate Table
| Rank | Symbol | Annualized Borrow Fee | Rebate Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ATPC | 652.5% | −648.9% |
| 2 | NCPL | 640.2% | −636.6% |
| 3 | JZ | 621.0% | −617.4% |
| 4 | XPON | 461.9% | −458.2% |
| 5 | EZGO | 191.3% | −187.7% |
| 6 | INM | 165.9% | −162.3% |
| 7 | GOVX | 109.1% | −105.5% |
| 8 | ATXG | 87.4% | −83.8% |
| 9 | GRRR | 30.1% | −26.5% |
| 10 | PARA | 29.7% | −26.0% |
| 11 | WKHS | 27.6% | −24.0% |
| 12 | EBET | 27.6% | −24.0% |
| 13 | VVOS | 25.4% | −21.8% |
| 14 | KITT | 22.3% | −18.6% |
| 15 | BBIG | 21.5% | −17.9% |
| 16 | LGVN | 11.7% | −8.1% |
| 17 | DRTS | 10.5% | −6.8% |
| 18 | ACON | 8.9% | −5.3% |
| 19 | CYDY | 8.4% | −4.8% |
| 20 | INDO | 8.2% | −4.6% |
| 21 | SPWR | 6.8% | −3.2% |
| 22 | LCID | 6.3% | −2.6% |
| 23 | CHPT | 4.6% | −0.9% |
| 24 | HSDT | 3.6% | 0.0% |
| 25 | HCKT | 2.8% | 0.8% |
*Source: IBKR Securities Lending rates as compiled by Tapeboard, September 1, 2026 10:50 PM ET. Market-wide ranking across all IBKR-tracked securities. Not investment advice.*
Borrow-Fee Tiers
Tapeboard categorizes annualized borrow fees as normal (under 2%), elevated (2–10%), hard-to-borrow (10–50%), and extreme (above 50%). On September 1, 2026, 17 names on today's market-wide list fell in the hard-to-borrow or extreme tier.
The extreme tier is crowded at the very top: ATPC (652.5%), NCPL (640.2%), JZ (621.0%), and XPON (461.9%) all sit above 450% annualized as of September 1, 2026 — levels that almost always indicate shares that are nearly impossible to locate in the lending pool, frequently in distressed or very-low-float names. A second cluster — EZGO at 191.3%, INM at 165.9%, GOVX at 109.1%, and ATXG at 87.4% as of September 1, 2026 — rounds out the extreme tier.
What a High Borrow Fee Signals
An annualized borrow fee is the stock-loan cost a short seller pays to keep a short position open. A high fee reflects scarcity in the lendable pool — when few shares are available to borrow, lenders charge more. Critically, a high fee does not by itself predict a squeeze. Names with triple-digit fees are often distressed, very-low-float, post-reverse-split, or recently IPO'd stocks where shares are almost impossible to locate; high cost-to-short is not the same as squeeze potential. That is why the borrow fee is weighted 25% in Tapeboard's composite squeeze score, alongside short interest, price momentum, and volume — see the methodology for the full weighting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which stocks have the highest borrow fees today?
As of September 1, 2026, the top three are ATPC at 652.5%, NCPL at 640.2%, and JZ at 621.0% annualized. All three sit deep in the extreme tier, indicating shares that are exceptionally scarce in the lending pool.
What is considered a high stock borrow fee?
Tapeboard's tiers define fees under 2% as normal, 2–10% as elevated, 10–50% as hard-to-borrow, and above 50% as extreme. Anything in the hard-to-borrow tier or higher represents a meaningful cost for short sellers to carry a position.
Where do these borrow rates come from?
Tapeboard compiles IBKR Securities Lending borrow fees daily and refreshes them each evening across the full market universe. Rates are daily snapshots, not real-time intraday figures, and may differ from rates quoted by other brokers.
Data and Methodology
Borrow fee: IBKR Stock Loan Availability data, updated daily each evening, covering the full market-wide universe. Rebate rate: IBKR Securities Lending data, where available; a negative rebate represents an additional cost to the borrower.
See today's full squeeze analysis for the 7-factor composite ranking, or the hard-to-borrow leaderboard for the live pillar.
This post is for educational and informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Borrow fees reflect securities-lending conditions reported in IBKR's daily data; they are not real-time intraday rates and may differ from rates at other brokers. A high borrow fee does not constitute a buy or sell signal. Short selling carries unlimited downside risk. Editor: Marcus Reilly.