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Yesterday's calm is gone. WFF saw short positions jump 1,320% in a single session on October 9, reversing the unwind that had been the story for most of the past month.
The October 11 note described a squeeze that had largely run its course. Shares short had collapsed to 13,056, cost to borrow had fallen to 50%, and availability had surged to 416%. That picture lasted one trading day.
By October 9, shares short had climbed back to 185,399. Cost to borrow spiked to 139%, up 144% on the week. Availability has collapsed from 416% to 10.8%, meaning roughly one share remains available for every nine already borrowed. That is the tightest the borrow market has been since the height of the original squeeze.
The history here matters. Cost to borrow peaked above 400% in early September when short interest was running above 500,000 shares. The September squeeze burned through most of those positions. What is happening now is a fresh round of short selling into a stock that has risen 540% in a month and 499% in a single day.
The 52-week low for availability was 0.05%, hit during the original squeeze episode. At 10.8%, the lending pool is tight but not yet exhausted. The 52-week high for availability tracking shows how violently conditions can shift on this name.
The ORTEX short score stood at 47.5 as of October 8, down from a peak near 58.6 in late September. That score had been falling as the squeeze unwound. A fresh wave of short selling of this size, against an availability reading of 10.8%, will put upward pressure on that score in the next reading.
Cost to borrow at 139% means bearish positions carry a significant daily financing cost. During the September peak, that cost ran above 400% for weeks. Shorts who entered at those levels and held through the rally took losses on both the position and the carry.
The earnings history adds another layer of context. WFF reported on October 2, and the stock fell 7.3% on the day but rose 398% over the five days that followed. The next scheduled earnings date is April 30, 2027.
What to watch: availability is the key variable. If it drops below 5%, the lending pool approaches the conditions that triggered the original squeeze. Cost to borrow trajectory over the next 48 hours will signal how aggressively new shorts are competing for the remaining shares.
Data summary
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open WFF on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
