QBTS shorts add as retail attention spikes and borrow dries up

Short sellers have pushed their position in D-Wave Quantum to 23.0% of the free float, up 10.0% in a single week. That is the highest level in at least a year, and the weekly move is 1.8 standard deviations above the company's typical pace of change.

The build came as the stock fell 30.3% over the past month, closing at $12.13 on October 27. Over the past week, shares gained 3.0%, outpacing the median of its closest peers.

Borrow market near the limit

Availability has collapsed to 3.8% as of October 27, down 56.3% on the week. At that level, fewer than four shares remain available to borrow for every hundred already lent out. On October 26, availability briefly reached 0.57%, the tightest reading in the current stretch.

The 52-week low for availability stands at 0.52%, set earlier this year. The borrow market has now cycled to near that extreme three times in October alone. Each episode resolved without a sustained change in direction.

Cost to borrow remains modest at 1.04%, up 9.1% on the week. That figure has not risen to reflect the tightness in supply, which means additional short demand could push the cost higher quickly if availability falls further.

Retail attention surges

ORTEX Alt Data recorded retail attention 5.6 standard deviations above D-Wave's own 90-day average as of October 26, based on English Wikipedia article views and ORTEX stock page traffic. This is an attention signal only, with no demonstrated lead relationship to the company's revenue figures.

The ORTEX short score stands at 73.8 as of October 26, up from 72.2 a week earlier. The short-score rank sits in the 4th percentile across the ORTEX universe, placing QBTS among the most heavily shorted names the platform tracks.

Data summary

• Short interest: 23.0% of free float, up 10.0% on the week and 10.5% on the month
• Borrow availability: 3.8% as of October 27, down 56.3% on the week; 52-week low is 0.52%
• Cost to borrow: 1.04%, up 9.1% on the week
• ORTEX short score: 73.8, 4th percentile rank across universe
• Retail attention z-score: 5.6 standard deviations above 90-day average as of October 26 (attention signal only)
• Earnings scheduled: November 5, 2026
• Stock price: $12.13, up 5.1% on the day, down 30.3% over one month