Most Shorted Stocks Today: August 28, 2026 — Top 25 Squeeze Candidates
On August 28, 2026, RNA leads Tapeboard's most shorted stocks leaderboard with a squeeze score of 45.4, 22.4% short interest, and 28.4 days to cover, while RGC's 252.2% borrow fee headlines a board where every name sits on the FINRA threshold list.
RNA tops the Tapeboard squeeze board on August 28, 2026 with a score of 45.4, driven by 22.4% short interest as a share of float and an elevated 28.4 days to cover. The day's defining split: a cluster of high-SI names with cheap borrow (SVRA, OCGN, NTLA) versus a smaller group where the borrow fee is doing the damage — RGC at 252.2% annualized and SHOT at 82.2%. Every name on today's board carries the FINRA threshold flag, meaning sustained heavy short-side volume across all 25.
August 28, 2026 Top 25 Short Squeeze Candidates
| Rank | Symbol | Squeeze Score | SI % Float | Borrow Fee | Days to Cover | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | RNA | 45.4 | 22.4% | 0.6% | 28.4 | T |
| 9 | SVRA | 45.1 | 28.3% | 2.3% | 20.1 | T |
| 10 | RGC | 44.8 | 1.6% | 252.2% | 4.1 | T |
| 11 | KOD | 43.9 | 26.0% | 0.3% | 20.6 | T |
| 13 | SHOT | 41.8 | 0.3% | 82.2% | 2.0 | T |
| 14 | OCGN | 40.9 | 31.8% | 2.7% | 21.6 | T |
| 15 | WKHS | 40.0 | 24.9% | 30.5% | 10.8 | T |
| 16 | MARA | 39.8 | 28.5% | — | 2.0 | T |
| 17 | TRIP | 39.7 | 25.5% | 0.4% | 11.7 | T |
| 18 | PCRX | 39.6 | 21.4% | 0.4% | 13.4 | T |
| 19 | WSM | 39.6 | 4.8% | 0.4% | 6.6 | T |
| 20 | IDYA | 39.5 | 11.6% | 0.3% | 13.2 | T |
| 21 | OPAL | 39.1 | 15.8% | 1.4% | 13.5 | T |
| 22 | GRBK | 38.8 | 5.5% | 0.3% | 7.6 | T |
| 23 | WB | 38.7 | 19.6% | 1.6% | 21.1 | T |
| 25 | IMUX | 38.2 | 12.1% | 0.8% | 10.1 | T |
| 26 | FINV | 37.6 | 4.2% | 0.4% | 13.9 | T |
| 27 | CCS | 37.4 | 9.0% | 0.4% | 6.8 | T |
| 28 | PRAX | 37.3 | 15.2% | 0.4% | 11.3 | T |
| 29 | APO | 37.2 | 3.8% | 0.3% | 5.1 | T |
| 30 | IQ | 37.2 | 13.6% | 0.4% | 10.4 | T |
| 31 | BILI | 37.1 | 7.5% | 0.7% | 9.8 | T |
| 32 | NTLA | 36.9 | 32.8% | 0.3% | 12.0 | T |
| 33 | TROW | 36.9 | 12.1% | 0.3% | 12.4 | T |
| 35 | KRYS | 36.9 | 13.7% | 0.3% | 4.2 | T |
Top 5 Names on August 28, 2026
8. RNA — Squeeze Score 45.4
RNA leads the board on the strength of duration, not cost. Short interest sits at 22.4% of float, the borrow fee is a negligible 0.6%, but days to cover is 28.4 — the highest on today's list. That combination means shorts are paying almost nothing to hold, yet would need nearly six trading weeks of average volume to exit. The 5-day momentum of +3.3% is already working against them. This is the classic slow-burn setup: cheap carry keeps shorts comfortable, but any sustained bid forces a long, mechanical unwind because the exit door is that narrow. The catalyst to watch is purely mechanical — if volume stays thin while price grinds higher, covering pressure compounds on itself.
9. SVRA — Squeeze Score 45.1
SVRA pairs 28.3% short interest with 20.1 days to cover and a modest 2.3% borrow fee. At a $5.29 share price with -5.9% five-day momentum, shorts are currently winning the trade — which is exactly when positioning gets crowded. The setup is a high-SI, low-priced name where float utilization matches the SI figure at 28.3%, meaning a large share of lendable stock is already out on loan. If a positive catalyst forces covering into a thin book, the 20-day cover window turns an orderly exit into a queue.
10. RGC — Squeeze Score 44.8
RGC is the fee story of the day. Short interest is only 1.6% of float and days to cover is just 4.1, but the borrow fee is 252.2% annualized — by far the highest on the board. At that rate, a short position bleeds roughly 0.7% of its value per day in borrow costs alone. This is a hard-to-borrow squeeze candidate: the fee itself is the pressure, and it signals that lendable supply is nearly exhausted. If borrow availability tightens further or lenders recall shares, shorts must cover regardless of price direction. Traders tracking fee-driven setups like this in a journal — TradeZella is one option among several — will recognize the pattern: the carry cost, not the chart, forces the move.
11. KOD — Squeeze Score 43.9
KOD shows 26.0% short interest, a 0.3% borrow fee, and 20.6 days to cover at a $37.22 share price. Like SVRA, momentum is negative at -1.6% over five days, so shorts are in profit and have little incentive to leave. The risk profile is asymmetric, though: with a fifth of the float short and a 20-day cover window, any sharp reversal traps a large positioned crowd. The trigger here would be a positive catalyst that gaps the stock above recent range highs, converting a comfortable short into a rushed one.
13. SHOT — Squeeze Score 41.8
SHOT mirrors RGC's structure in milder form: short interest of just 0.3% and 2.0 days to cover, but an 82.2% borrow fee. The raw SI numbers look harmless; the fee says otherwise. When borrow costs reach triple-digit annualized territory, market-makers and locate desks are telling you the shares barely exist. The squeeze mechanic is a borrow recall or further fee escalation — either forces covering independent of fundamentals.
Stocks Flagged on the FINRA Threshold List
The T column marks the FINRA threshold flag: the symbol shows sustained heavy short pressure on the FINRA Consolidated NMS daily short-volume file, with more than 50% of recent volume on the short side. All 25 names on today's board carry the flag — an unusually uniform reading. See /methodology/short-squeeze-score for the full scoring breakdown.
How the Squeeze Score Is Built
The score blends five inputs: 35% SI % Float (FINRA), 25% Borrow Fee (IBKR), 20% Float Utilization, 15% Days to Cover, and 5% five-day momentum (Schwab). That weighting is why RGC (tiny SI, extreme fee) and RNA (moderate SI, extreme days to cover) land within a point of each other — the model treats fee stress and exit congestion as comparable short squeeze fuel. Full methodology: /methodology/short-squeeze-score.
Check the live leaderboard for tomorrow's updated rankings.