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 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: Securities Lending rates as compiled by Tapeboard, September 1, 2026 10:50 PM ET. Market-wide ranking across all 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 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: broker-dealer stock-loan data, updated daily each evening, covering the full market-wide universe. Rebate rate: 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 the daily stock-loan 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.