Top Short-Squeeze Candidates Today: September 16, 2026 — 7-Factor Leaderboard
PLAY tops Tapeboard's September 16, 2026 squeeze leaderboard with a 74.4 composite score, on a day when elevated short interest and universal FINRA threshold-list presence — not extreme borrow fees — drove the rankings.
TL;DR: As of market close on September 16, 2026, PLAY leads Tapeboard's 7-factor squeeze leaderboard with a score of 74.4/100, driven by 32.5% short interest and a 0.5% annualized borrow fee.
Tapeboard's daily squeeze scan ranked 25 stocks by composite score on September 16, 2026, combining seven factors: short interest as a percentage of float, annualized borrow fee, float utilization, the FINRA Consolidated NMS short-volume ratio, days to cover, five-day price momentum, and week-over-week borrow-fee change — each z-scored against a live ~500-stock universe. The dominant pattern today is crowded short positioning without hard-to-borrow stress: every name in the top 15 sits on the FINRA threshold list, yet most borrow fees remain below 2%. This is a composite short squeeze ranking, not a raw short-interest list.
Today's September 16, 2026 Squeeze Score Leaderboard
| Rank | Symbol | Squeeze Score | SI % Float | Borrow Fee | Days to Cover | Mom 5d | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PLAY | 74.4 | 32.5% | 0.5% | 6.7 | -16.2% | T |
| 2 | LDI | 44.8 | 16.3% | 0.4% | 7.0 | — | T |
| 3 | ALDX | 43.1 | 6.4% | — | 4.8 | — | T |
| 4 | OCGN | 42.8 | 31.0% | 2.2% | 28.2 | -6.3% | T |
| 5 | PCRX | 42.7 | 21.7% | 0.4% | 17.0 | -3.7% | T |
| 6 | SVRA | 41.7 | 31.8% | 1.3% | 24.3 | -5.3% | T |
| 7 | KRYS | 40.7 | 14.3% | 0.3% | 15.3 | -3.3% | T |
| 8 | COIN | 39.8 | 12.5% | — | 2.4 | — | T |
| 9 | PLBY | 39.0 | 5.0% | — | 7.5 | — | T |
| 10 | HRMY | 39.0 | 10.0% | 0.4% | 9.1 | — | T |
| 11 | BEAM | 38.5 | 29.2% | 0.3% | 14.8 | -8.2% | T |
| 12 | CRBP | 38.4 | 14.8% | 0.4% | 3.7 | — | T |
| 13 | SES | 38.3 | 15.6% | 1.7% | 4.7 | — | T |
| 14 | IDYA | 38.2 | 11.6% | 0.3% | 12.2 | — | T |
| 15 | TROW | 38.0 | 12.5% | 0.4% | 20.5 | — | T |
*Source: Tapeboard composite squeeze model, September 16, 2026. Seven factors z-scored vs a ~500-stock universe. Short interest per FINRA settlement schedule; borrow fees from IBKR stock-loan availability; short-volume from FINRA Consolidated NMS. Not investment advice.*
What Drove Today's Rankings
The top 10 is defined by high short interest paired with cheap borrow: seven of the ten carry SI above 10% of float while paying borrow fees of 2.2% or less, and all ten are on the FINRA threshold list. The outlier is ALDX at rank 3 with a 43.1 score — its short interest is only 6.4% of float and no borrow fee is reported, so its composite is carried by a 4.8 days-to-cover reading and threshold-list short volume, reweighted across the available factors. Because SI% float carries a 35% weight and borrow fee 25%, names like OCGN (31.0% SI, 2.2% fee, 28.2 days to cover) score well on three components at once.
Top 5 Names
1. PLAY — Squeeze Score 74.4/100
PLAY's 74.4 score, nearly 30 points clear of the field, is driven primarily by short interest of 32.5% of float — the second-highest on today's board. Its secondary signals are a -16.2% five-day momentum reading and a 6.7 days-to-cover figure, with shares last at $6.96. The name also sits on the FINRA threshold list, meaning short-side volume has run at or above half of total volume over the last seven trading days. Its 0.5% borrow fee remains low.
2. LDI — Squeeze Score 44.8/100
LDI scores 44.8 on the back of 16.3% short interest against a $0.72 share price in the Financial Services sector. Its secondary signal is borrow-fee direction: the fee rose 0.01 percentage points over the last five sessions to 0.4%, a small but positive fee-change contribution. Five-day momentum was not reported, so that component of the score was reweighted across the remaining factors. Days to cover stands at 7.0.
3. ALDX — Squeeze Score 43.1/100
ALDX reaches 43.1 despite the lowest short interest in the top five at 6.4% of float. With no borrow fee reported by IBKR, that component was reweighted across the remaining factors, leaving a 4.8 days-to-cover reading and its FINRA threshold-list status as the secondary drivers. Shares last traded at $1.35 in the Biotechnology sector. The score illustrates how threshold-level short volume can lift a low-SI name in a z-scored composite.
4. OCGN — Squeeze Score 42.8/100
OCGN's 42.8 score is built on 31.0% short interest — third-highest on the board — combined with the longest days-to-cover figure in the top 15 at 28.2 days. Its secondary signal is borrow-fee pressure: the fee stands at 2.2% annualized after rising 0.22 percentage points over five sessions, the steepest fee increase among the top five. Shares last traded at $1.01, down 6.3% over five days, and the name is on the FINRA threshold list.
5. PCRX — Squeeze Score 42.7/100
PCRX rounds out the top five at 42.7, driven by 21.7% short interest and a 17.0 days-to-cover reading — the third-longest on the leaderboard. Its secondary signal runs the other way on cost: the borrow fee fell 2.03 percentage points over five sessions to 0.4%, the largest fee decline in the top 15, which dampens the fee-change component. Shares last traded at $24.91, down 3.7% over five days, with the name on the FINRA threshold list.
Factor Breakdown: How the Score Is Built
The composite weights seven inputs: 35% SI% of float (FINRA), 25% borrow fee (IBKR), 20% float utilization, 15% days to cover, and 5% five-day momentum (Schwab), with the remaining weight across the short-volume ratio and week-over-week fee change. Each factor is z-scored against a ~500-stock universe so outliers are measured in standard deviations, not raw percentages. Full detail is in the methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the top short-squeeze candidates today?
By composite squeeze score on September 16, 2026, the top three are PLAY (74.4, 32.5% SI, 0.5% borrow fee), LDI (44.8, 16.3% SI, 0.4% fee), and ALDX (43.1, 6.4% SI, no fee reported). All three are on the FINRA threshold list.
How does Tapeboard calculate its squeeze score?
Each of seven factors — SI% float, borrow fee, float utilization, short-volume ratio, days to cover, five-day momentum, and five-day fee change — is z-scored against a ~500-stock universe, then combined using fixed weights (35% SI, 25% fee, 20% utilization, 15% days to cover, 5% momentum). Missing components are reweighted across the remaining factors.
When does short-interest data update?
Short interest lags roughly two weeks because FINRA publishes it on a settlement-date schedule. Borrow fees update next-day from IBKR stock-loan availability, and short-volume data publishes daily via FINRA Consolidated NMS.
Data and Methodology
- Squeeze score: Tapeboard composite, recomputed nightly.
- Short interest: FINRA, ~2-week settlement lag.
- Borrow fee: IBKR stock-loan availability, daily.
- Short-volume threshold: FINRA Consolidated NMS, daily.
- Momentum: Schwab, end-of-day.
See today's highest borrow fees for the full hard-to-borrow ranking, or the live squeeze leaderboard for tomorrow's update.
This post is for educational and informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Short selling carries unlimited downside risk. A quantitative composite does not predict price, and past squeezes are not indicative of future moves. Editor: Marcus Reilly.