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 24 short squeeze candidates — composite squeeze-readiness score combining short interest, days-to-cover, and technical setup. At the top, CADIZ, Inc. (CDZI) carries 20.9% short float, 8.9 days-to-cover, readiness score of 76 in the “Igniting” phase — the highest-conviction squeeze setup on the board today. Runner-up Gamehaus Holdings Inc. Class A Ordinary Shares (GMHS) adds depth to the list. Review the full ranking below.
| # | Symbol | Company | Price | Mkt Cap | Short Float | DTC | Readiness | Setup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CDZI | CADIZ, Inc. | $3.8700 | 331.9M | 20.9% | 8.9 | 76 | Igniting |
| 2 | GMHS | Gamehaus Holdings Inc. Class A Ordinary Shares | $0.6427 | 34.7M | 37.1% | 12.1 | 74 | Coiled |
| 3 | CLVT | Clarivate Plc | $1.7700 | 946.7M | 15.1% | 10.6 | 69 | Coiled |
| 4 | YIBO | Planet Image International Limited Class A Ordinary Shares | $1.1450 | 62.2M | 27.1% | 6.3 | 67 | Coiled |
| 5 | ARKO | ARKO Corp. Common Stock | $4.1000 | 467.8M | 16.4% | 9.2 | 65 | Coiled |
| 6 | HTZ | Hertz Global Holdings, Inc Common Stock | $1.7300 | 627.4M | 71.7% | 10.6 | 63 | Coiled |
| 7 | WOOF | Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. Class A Common Stock | $2.3300 | 627.3M | 22.5% | 9.6 | 63 | Coiled |
| 8 | PRME | Prime Medicine, Inc. Common Stock | $3.4700 | 540.5M | 33.6% | 8.5 | 63 | Coiled |
| 9 | SPRY | ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Common Stock | $4.0200 | 404.8M | 43.3% | 16.1 | 62 | Coiled |
| 10 | DNUT | Krispy Kreme, Inc. Common Stock | $3.0200 | 501.4M | 21.5% | 9.4 | 62 | Coiled |
| 11 | FLWS | 1-800-FLOWERS.COM Inc | $2.7500 | 164.3M | 26.2% | 15.4 | 61 | Coiled |
| 12 | TOYO | TOYO Co., Ltd Ordinary Shares | $4.0000 | 186.7M | 56.9% | 11.5 | 60 | Coiled |
| 13 | XPOF | Xponential Fitness, Inc. | $4.4700 | 198.4M | 35.5% | 12.4 | 60 | Coiled |
| 14 | LCTX | Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. | $0.9783 | 235.3M | 14.5% | 15.8 | 60 | Coiled |
| 15 | CURV | Torrid Holdings Inc. | $2.3500 | 249.3M | 13.0% | 20.3 | 59 | Coiled |
| 16 | RENT | Rent the Runway, Inc. Class A Common Stock | $1.7600 | 52.6M | 43.7% | 6.6 | 56 | Coiled |
| 17 | INSG | Inseego Corp. Common Stock | $4.1200 | 81.1M | 20.4% | 8.6 | 56 | Coiled |
| 18 | UP | Wheels Up Experience Inc. | $3.4600 | 127.0M | 16.9% | 6.6 | 55 | Coiled |
| 19 | TTGT | TechTarget, Inc. Common Stock | $3.7700 | 258.2M | 10.7% | 9.6 | 55 | Coiled |
| 20 | UAA | Under Armour, Inc. | $4.7400 | 1.92B | 34.6% | 6.0 | 54 | Coiled |
| 21 | OGEN | Oragenics Inc. | $0.4349 | 2.2M | 24.5% | 24.9 | 53 | Coiled |
| 22 | GALT | Galectin Therapeutics Inc. | $3.6200 | 393.3M | 13.8% | 33.7 | 53 | Coiled |
| 23 | LVWR | LiveWire Group, Inc. | $1.5500 | 322.5M | 21.2% | 4.1 | 52 | Coiled |
| 24 | HURA | TuHURA Biosciences, Inc. Common Stock | $1.7600 | 121.7M | 14.6% | 28.4 | 50 | Coiled |
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:
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.
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.
Learn more about Short Float & Short Interest →
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.
Learn more about Days to Cover (DTC) →
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.
Short squeeze candidates — the full-market ranking, all price ranges.