Short Squeeze Penny Stocks

Penny stocks (under $5) with elevated short interest and high days-to-cover ratios, ranked by a composite "squeeze readiness" score that blends short-float pressure, technical setup, and momentum signals. These are the names where a short squeeze is mechanically most plausible.

Today's scan surfaced 25 short squeeze candidates — composite squeeze-readiness score combining short interest, days-to-cover, and technical setup. At the top, TuHURA Biosciences, Inc. Common Stock (HURA) carries 26.8% short float, 31.9 days-to-cover, readiness score of 87 in the “Igniting” phase — the highest-conviction squeeze setup on the board today. Runner-up Dominari Holdings Inc. Common Stock (DOMH) adds depth to the list. Review the full ranking below.

Data as of 2026-08-12 · End-of-day prices
#SymbolCompanyPriceMkt CapShort FloatDTCReadinessSetup
1HURATuHURA Biosciences, Inc. Common Stock$2.3400138.2M26.8%31.987Igniting
2DOMHDominari Holdings Inc. Common Stock$2.920057.4M47.6%12.382Igniting
3PRMEPrime Medicine, Inc. Common Stock$3.2000507.5M34.6%12.974Coiled
4OCGNOcugen, Inc. Common Stock$1.4000423.9M31.3%21.674Igniting
5PROPPrairie Operating Co. Common Stock$0.877472.0M25.9%13.973Igniting
6SANASana Biotechnology, Inc. Common Stock$3.7700885.0M25.4%16.373Igniting
7NRGVEnergy Vault Holdings, Inc.$3.9200552.8M24.8%7.673Igniting
8CATXPerspective Therapeutics, Inc.$3.2600331.9M24.8%25.773Igniting
9CMPXCompass Therapeutics, Inc. Common Stock$2.3700344.0M41.2%17.672Igniting
10CCCCC4 Therapeutics, Inc.$3.9000384.8M34.2%11.171Coiled
11ALLOAllogene Therapeutics, Inc. Common Stock$2.0700648.9M35.7%9.271Coiled
12FLWS1-800-FLOWERS.COM Inc$4.0900250.0M26.4%30.770Coiled
13PTLOPortillo's Inc. Class A Common Stock$4.7600328.6M16.8%10.570Igniting
14ZENAZenaTech, Inc. Common Stock$1.9000112.9M35.8%4.267Coiled
15LRMRLarimar Therapeutics, Inc. Common Stock$4.3700396.8M19.8%9.467Igniting
16EUenCore Energy Corp.$1.3800211.7M19.8%13.867Igniting
17FIPFTAI Infrastructure Inc. Common Stock$4.5100440.8M21.7%18.467Igniting
18BTQBTQ Technologies Corp. Common Stock$4.3500499.6M14.9%9.567Igniting
19AQSTAquestive Therapeutics, Inc. Common Stock$4.2300463.6M18.1%8.967Igniting
20HTZHertz Global Holdings, Inc Common Stock$2.8000500.5M79.0%6.066Coiled
21CNTBConnect Biopharma Holdings Limited Ordinary Shares$2.3300127.2M15.0%8.066Igniting
22CABACabaletta Bio, Inc. Common Stock$2.8500437.0M38.7%18.566Coiled
23INDIindie Semiconductor, Inc. Class A Common Stock$4.0100682.5M33.3%16.666Coiled
24LXRXLexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$2.35001.03B14.5%12.566Coiled
25RRRichtech Robotics Inc. Class B Common Stock$1.7500339.9M26.3%8.365Coiled

How We Rank Squeeze Candidates

A short squeeze happens when a heavily shorted stock starts rising. Shorts have to buy back shares to cover, pushing the price further up, which forces more covering, and so on. The mechanical inputs are well known. The hard part is filtering noise.

Our readiness score weights five things:

  • Short float %: the more of the float that's short, the more fuel for a squeeze.
  • Days to cover (DTC): how many normal trading days shorts would need to exit. Higher = harder to exit cleanly.
  • Recent technical setup: RSI positioning, TTM Squeeze status, MACD direction, moving-average structure.
  • Price momentum: recent 5-day move, often the trigger.
  • Setup category: Coiled (building), Igniting (just moved), Late stage (already extended), Falling Knife (avoid).

The Setup column tells you which phase a name is in. "Coiled" and "Igniting" are where the asymmetry is best; "Late stage" means most of the move may already be gone.

See also: daily archive of this scan (historical day-by-day snapshots), highest short interest, nano-cap squeezes.

Indicators Used in This Scan

Short Float % is the percent of a company's free-tradeable float that's currently sold short. Higher short float means more shares that must eventually be bought back — more potential squeeze fuel. Above 20% is elevated; above 30% is unusually high. The short interest is reported by FINRA and updated bi-monthly.

Days to Cover (DTC) divides the total short interest by the average daily trading volume — an estimate of how many normal trading days shorts would need to exit their positions. DTC above 3 means shorts can't quietly cover on average volume; DTC above 7 means a forced unwind has to push price meaningfully higher to find liquidity.

TTM Squeeze identifies low-volatility periods by detecting when Bollinger Bands contract inside Keltner Channels. The squeeze itself doesn't predict direction — only that volatility expansion is coming — but the accompanying momentum histogram indicates the likely direction of the eventual release. Combine a positive squeeze with positive momentum for high-conviction bullish setups.