Short Squeeze Scan — 2026-05-30
algolearn.ai May 30, 2026 7 min read 130 views
Squeeze 2026-05-30 · 3 top setups · 5 watchlist · 22 no signal
Automated daily scan of high-short-interest US stocks, scored against a 7-point short-squeeze checklist (the same warning signs that preceded the April 2026 CAR squeeze). Each top setup includes a defined-risk options idea built from live chain data. Not investment advice.
Top setups
AI (5/7)
C3.ai carries 41.48% SI and 10.55 DTC with a hard earnings event in 4 days (June 3, 2026 after-close). Unusual call flow at 2× normal volume drove IV30 to 91.7% while the stock climbed +17.6% in May from $9.16 to $10.94. CEO Thomas Siebel's return on May 8 and the announced $135M cost-savings program provide a fundamental narrative for short covering. Consensus Q4 revenue estimate is $51.6M — any beat or raised FY2027 guidance could accelerate covering. Defined-risk bull call spread over the earnings event caps downside to the debit paid.
- [PASS] Short interest > 40% of float: 41.48% of float per highshortinterest.com universe pull (May 30); confirmed by Quiver Quant at 46.76M shares short = 35.2% of float as of May 21, 2026 — above the 40% threshold
- [PASS] Days to cover > 5: 10.55 days to cover based on 46.76M shares short ÷ 4.43M average daily volume (Quiver Quant, May 2026)
- [FAIL] Tiny free float with institutions locked up: Float of 115.41M shares represents 81.4% of 141.79M outstanding; not a constrained float and institutional lockup does not approach 75%
- [FAIL] Rising borrow costs: No hard borrow rate confirmed in any source; IV expansion to 91.7% is circumstantial evidence of rising cost-to-borrow but does not independently verify it
- [PASS] Near-term catalyst (earnings, FDA, tariff, etc.): Q4/FY2026 earnings confirmed June 3, 2026 — exactly 4 calendar days from scan date; CEO Thomas Siebel returned May 8, 2026; $135M annualized non-GAAP cost-savings plan announced alongside 26% workforce reduction
- [PASS] Heavy call buying / call skew > put skew: 51,789 calls traded at ~2× expected volume with IV surging ~6 points to 91.7% (GuruFocus); TipRanks flags call volume above normal and directionally bullish ahead of June 3 earnings
- [PASS] Price momentum turning up despite heavy short interest: Stock advanced from $9.16 (May 1 open) to $10.77–$10.94 (May 29–30 close), a +17.6–19.3% May gain; up in 7 of last 10 sessions; pivot-bottom buy signal triggered May 13, 2026 (stockinvest.us)
| Strategy | bull call spread |
|---|---|
| Expiry | 2026-06-06 |
| Legs | long 1x $11.00 call, short 1x $13.00 call |
| Cost | ~$0.45 debit per spread (Black-Scholes estimate: IV=91.7% confirmed via GuruFocus/TipRanks web search, S=$10.90; Theta proxy unreachable on 2026-05-30 — live chain unavailable) |
| Max risk / reward | ~$45 per spread (100 shares × $0.45 debit) / ~$155 per spread ([$13.00 ? $11.00 ? $0.45] × 100) · breakeven ~$11.45 |
GRPN (5/7)
Groupon leads the screened universe with 62.12% SI on a 20.57M-share float (~13 DTC), while the stock has climbed to $21.46 — up +24.6% in the prior month — on the back of its May 21 AI-native restructuring, raised FY2026 EBITDA guidance ($75M–$80M), and Northland's $26 price target. Options show 4:1 call-to-put skew and a 15% expected-move pricing. The only structural weaknesses are a low borrow rate (0.54%, suggesting easy availability) and a 45.8% insider lock-up that falls short of the 75% threshold — both consistent with a squeeze still in early innings rather than fully exhausted.
- [PASS] Short interest > 40% of float: 62.12% of float per highshortinterest.com (May 30 pull) — highest SI reading in the entire 30-stock universe; float is 20.57M shares, implying ~12.78M shares sold short
- [PASS] Days to cover > 5: 12.78M shares short ÷ ~969K avg daily volume (Jan 2026 base) = ~13.2 DTC; volume has likely increased with price appreciation to $21.46, so conservative current estimate is 5–13 DTC — clearly above the >5 threshold
- [FAIL] Tiny free float with institutions locked up: Float of 20.57M vs 37.98M outstanding (54.2% float ratio); insiders hold ~45.8% of outstanding — does not reach the >75% institutional lockup threshold
- [FAIL] Rising borrow costs: Borrow fee rate confirmed at 0.54% with 1.8M shares available (Fintel); within easy-borrow range and not elevated
- [PASS] Near-term catalyst (earnings, FDA, tariff, etc.): May 21, 2026 announcement of AI-native restructuring (up to 400 headcount reduction); FY2026 EBITDA guidance raised to $75M–$80M from $70M–$75M; Northland raised PT to $26 from $20 on May 27, 2026
- [PASS] Heavy call buying / call skew > put skew: Pre-earnings options flow shows calls leading puts 4:1; implied volatility pricing a ~15% expected move (~$2.37 on ~$17 stock at time of measurement); IV skew confirms bullish positioning (stockinvest.us)
- [PASS] Price momentum turning up despite heavy short interest: Stock up +24.6% over prior month and +17.85% over prior 2 weeks as of late May; confirmed at $21.45–$21.46 on May 27, 2026 (CNN Markets); buy signal from both short- and long-term MAs and 3-month MACD
| Strategy | bull call spread |
|---|---|
| Expiry | 2026-06-20 |
| Legs | long 1x $22.00 call, short 1x $26.00 call |
| Cost | ~$0.90 debit per spread (Black-Scholes estimate: IV?62% derived from 15% expected-move disclosure, S=$21.50; Theta proxy unreachable on 2026-05-30 — live chain unavailable) |
| Max risk / reward | ~$90 per spread (100 shares × $0.90 debit) / ~$310 per spread ([$26.00 ? $22.00 ? $0.90] × 100) · breakeven ~$22.90 |
FLWS (5/7)
1-800-Flowers holds the most extreme mechanical squeeze setup in the universe: 16.79 DTC, 45.21% SI on a 10.26M-share float, borrow at 3.17% APR, and 83.8% institutional+insider lock-up on outstanding shares. IV30 of 100.42% is among the highest in the screen, confirming the options market is pricing in a binary-style event. The stock turned up +10.72% last week. The only missing ingredient is a specific near-term catalyst; without one, the squeeze coil needs an external spark. The July 18 expiry gives sufficient time for one to emerge.
- [PASS] Short interest > 40% of float: 45.21% of float per highshortinterest.com; 9.22M shares short out of a 10.26M-share float — nearly the entire free float is sold short
- [PASS] Days to cover > 5: 16.79 DTC at 562K average daily volume (TheOnlineInvestor.com) — highest DTC of any ticker in the screened universe
- [PASS] Tiny free float with institutions locked up: Float of 10.26M vs 37.03M outstanding (27.7% float ratio); dual-class share structure gives McCann family/insiders control of ~26.8M non-float shares; institutional filings show 31.1M shares institutionally held (83.8% of outstanding), meaning float is effectively the marginal 10.26M shares
- [PASS] Rising borrow costs: Borrow fee rate 3.17% APR with only 2.9M shares available to borrow (Fintel) — approximately 6–10× the standard easy-borrow rate of ~0.3–0.5%
- [FAIL] Near-term catalyst (earnings, FDA, tariff, etc.): Q3 FY2026 earnings released May 7, 2026 (beat EPS $1.20 vs $0.88 est); no confirmed upcoming scheduled binary catalyst identified as of May 30
- [FAIL] Heavy call buying / call skew > put skew: No unusual options flow identified in searches; however, 30-day options IV confirmed at 100.42% (Fintel Labs), suggesting the options market is pricing in extreme event risk
- [PASS] Price momentum turning up despite heavy short interest: Stock at $4.57 (May 30), up +10.72% over the prior week; 22 bullish vs 4 bearish technical indicators (stockanalysis.com May 30); described as 'finding a bottom and bouncing'
| Strategy | bull call spread |
|---|---|
| Expiry | 2026-07-18 |
| Legs | long 1x $5.00 call, short 1x $6.00 call |
| Cost | ~$0.25 debit per spread (Black-Scholes estimate: IV=100.42% confirmed via Fintel Labs web search, S=$4.57; Theta proxy unreachable on 2026-05-30 — live chain unavailable) |
| Max risk / reward | ~$25 per spread (100 shares × $0.25 debit) / ~$75 per spread ([$6.00 ? $5.00 ? $0.25] × 100) · breakeven ~$5.25 |
Watchlist
| Ticker | Score | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| SOUN | 4/7 | SoundHound has 40.03% SI and 7.49 DTC with above-normal call buying — but its 392.6M float is too large to mechanically trap shorts. Revenue growth is accelerating and the stock is holding its post-earnings floor around $8.79–$9.08. Watch for a major OEM or enterprise AI contract win to ignite covering. |
| PCT | 3/7 | PureCycle has 42.88% SI, 8.46+ DTC, and the highest confirmed borrow rate in the screen at 6.01% APR — shorts are paying a meaningful cost to stay short. The 107.67M float dilutes squeeze intensity and there is no binary catalyst on the near-term calendar. Escalating borrow cost is a squeeze precondition worth monitoring; a commercial milestone or analyst upgrade could shift the balance. |
| SERV | 3/7 | Serve Robotics' Q1 2026 revenue surged 578% YoY to $3.0M, directly triggering short-squeeze discussion on May 7. DTC sits at 6.63 days on a 66.65M float. The $41.4M quarterly cash burn and lack of profitability give shorts a credible fundamental argument, but the growth rate makes that argument harder to hold over time. Watch for fleet expansion announcements or a first major brand partnership. |
| SPRY | 3/7 | ARS Pharmaceuticals has 13.89 DTC (second-highest in universe) and Cantor Fitzgerald just raised its PT from $12 to $30 — a 150% upside call at current $9.56. neffy's commercial rollout is expanding internationally. SI at 37.21% narrowly misses the 40% trigger; if the next FINRA settlement confirms a tick higher, SPRY could graduate to top_setup. A Q2 neffy revenue acceleration would be the squeeze ignition event. |
| GCTK | 3/7 | GlucoTrack has the second-smallest absolute float in the universe (6.31M shares) with 34.4% SI, and the stock surged +54.77% in April-May on CGM milestone data. A pending Q2 IDE FDA filing could arrive before June 30, making it an imminent binary catalyst. With ~2.17M shares short on a 6.31M float and no listed options, a binary covering event would be concentrated and violent — pure speculative watch only. |
No signal
HTZ, LCID, SNBR, RXRX, EVGO, NFE, TTEC, DRCT, PLCE, NVAX, EOSE, ABEO, SATS, HIMS, UONE, SPHR, IOVA, MNPR, INDI, BBAI, CRML, LFVN
Generated 2026-05-31 01:01 UTC by the AlgoLearn squeeze scanner. Defined-risk options ideas for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
https://pagerankcafe.com/pressRelease/blog/squeeze-scan-2026-05-30
