Highest Borrow-Fee Stocks Today: October 1, 2026 — Hard-to-Borrow Rates
VEEA carries the highest IBKR borrow fee on October 1, 2026 at 788.3% annualized, with 11 names on today's market-wide list sitting in the hard-to-borrow or extreme tier.
TL;DR: As of 10:50 PM ET on October 1, 2026, VEEA carries the highest IBKR borrow fee in Tapeboard's market-wide ranking at 788.3% annualized. BIAF follows at 585.4%, and MEDS ranks third at 538.7%.
The costliest name to borrow on a market-wide basis is VEEA at 788.3% annualized as of October 1, 2026. Fees on today's list span 1.1% to 788.3% annualized; the median is 4.8%. This ranking covers the full IBKR securities-lending universe, so context matters: an annualized borrow fee in the triple-digit range typically flags distressed names, very-low-float stocks, recent IPOs, or post-reverse-split issues where shares are nearly impossible to locate in the lending pool — not a conventional short squeeze setup. A high fee is a cost-to-short signal, nothing more on its own.
Today's Hard-to-Borrow Rate Table
| Rank | Symbol | Annualized Borrow Fee | Rebate Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VEEA | 788.3% | −784.4% |
| 2 | BIAF | 585.4% | −581.5% |
| 3 | MEDS | 538.7% | −534.8% |
| 4 | XPON | 135.5% | −131.6% |
| 5 | SES | 94.1% | −90.2% |
| 6 | CETX | 46.9% | −43.1% |
| 7 | FNGR | 43.9% | −40.0% |
| 8 | WKHS | 27.7% | −23.8% |
| 9 | OPTT | 22.6% | −18.7% |
| 10 | OPAD | 16.3% | −12.5% |
| 11 | GRRR | 16.0% | −12.1% |
| 12 | SPWR | 6.3% | −2.4% |
| 13 | AISP | 4.8% | −0.9% |
| 14 | DNA | 4.3% | −0.5% |
| 15 | ACB | 4.2% | −0.3% |
| 16 | HIVE | 3.5% | 0.4% |
| 17 | FUBO | 2.7% | 1.2% |
| 18 | XRX | 2.6% | 1.3% |
| 19 | INO | 2.3% | 1.6% |
| 20 | OCGN | 2.2% | 1.7% |
| 21 | WB | 2.1% | 1.8% |
| 22 | EH | 1.9% | 1.9% |
| 23 | TE | 1.9% | 1.9% |
| 24 | CSIQ | 1.7% | 2.2% |
| 25 | MP | 1.1% | 2.7% |
*Source: IBKR Securities Lending rates as compiled by Tapeboard, October 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 October 1, 2026, 11 names on today's market-wide list fell in the hard-to-borrow or extreme tier.
The extreme tier is dominated tonight by three triple-digit outliers: VEEA at 788.3%, BIAF at 585.4%, and MEDS at 538.7%, all as of October 1, 2026. Rates of that magnitude almost always reflect structural scarcity — tiny lendable floats, distressed fundamentals, or post-reverse-split share counts — rather than crowded short positioning. The gap between the top three and the rest of the list is notable: the #4 name, XPON, sits at 135.5%, still extreme but hundreds of percentage points lower.
What a High Borrow Fee Signals
An annualized borrow fee is the stock-loan cost a short seller pays to maintain a short position. 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 distinction is why the borrow fee is weighted 25% in Tapeboard's composite squeeze score rather than treated as a standalone signal. The composite also incorporates short interest, price momentum, and volume, per the methodology. Traders reviewing their short-side entries and exits in a journal — for example with a tool like TradeZella — will often find that fee-driven scarcity trades behave very differently from genuine squeeze setups.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which stocks have the highest borrow fees today?
As of October 1, 2026, the top three are VEEA at 788.3% annualized, BIAF at 585.4%, and MEDS at 538.7%. All three sit deep in Tapeboard's extreme tier (above 50%).
What is considered a high stock borrow fee?
Tapeboard defines four tiers: normal (under 2%), elevated (2-10%), hard-to-borrow (10-50%), and extreme (above 50%). Anything at 10% or above is meaningfully expensive to hold short on an annualized basis.
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 of IBKR-tracked securities. 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.