Short Sellers Pile Into Alpha Compute

Alpha Compute faces mounting short pressure as shares collapse 32% in a week. Short interest surged 530% in seven days to 48% of float while cost to borrow spiked above 200%.

Price action & positioning

ALP closed at $0.22 on April 24, down 32% over the past week. The stock posted a single-day gain of 18% on its most recent session but remains down 37% over the past month. The biotech has shed most of its gains from earlier in the year as selling pressure intensified through April.

Short interest & lending

Short interest exploded to 3.06 million shares as of April 23, representing 48% of the free float. The position grew 89% in a single day and is up 530% from seven days earlier. One month ago short interest stood at just 651,000 shares.

The current level marks the highest short position in the 30-day history. April 20 saw just 283,000 shares short — less than one-tenth the current figure. Official FINRA data from mid-April showed 470,000 shares short, a reading the estimated position has now eclipsed by 6.5x.

Cost to borrow hit 201% APR on April 23. The metric stood at 53% a week prior. Over 30 days CTB rose 276%. The April 23 reading is the peak in the available history — prior sessions ranged between 47% and 58%.

Utilisation climbed to 75% from just 7% on April 20. The measure touched 100% — its 52-week maximum — earlier in the year. The recent climb from single digits to three-quarters utilisation occurred over three trading days.

Days to cover remains at 1.0 according to the most recent official settlement.

Options flow

Put/call ratio data is stale — last recorded in August 2024 at zero. The 52-week high reached 4.0 while the low sat at zero. No recent options sentiment data is available.

Analyst consensus

HC Wainwright initiated coverage on February 24 with a Buy rating and $2 price target. Analyst Kevin Dede launched the firm's coverage at that level. The target implies upside from the current $0.22 price.

One analyst holds a Buy recommendation. No Hold or Sell ratings are on file. The consensus sits at Buy with a mean target of $2.00.

The analyst data is 60 days old.

Valuation & factor positioning

Enterprise value is negative $866,000 as of year-end 2026. No meaningful valuation multiples are available.

Alpha Compute ranks in the 4th percentile for short score — indicating extreme short interest relative to the market. The stock sits in the 88th percentile for days to cover and the 9th percentile for utilisation. Analyst recommendation differential ranks in the 47th percentile. Dividend score is 32nd percentile. Sector score stands at the 29th percentile.

The short score rank reflects positioning at the high end of the short interest spectrum.

Institutional positioning

Orca Capital GmbH established a 640,000-share position (2.7% of shares) in the quarter ending January 28. Fiorenzo Villani added 243,831 shares (1.0%) as of March 18. FNY Investment Advisers initiated a 178,711-share stake (0.8%) in the March quarter. The Norden Group added 12,506 shares while Jane Street took a 10,193-share position in December.

Compedica Holdings holds 625,000 shares (2.7%) with no change in the most recent period. Gregory Bailey holds 498,078 shares (2.1%) unchanged. James Mellon's 269,827-share position (1.2%) also stood pat.

New institutional entry occurred in Q1 2026 while legacy holders maintained positions.

Insider activity

No insider trades have occurred in the past 90 days. The most recent filings date to March 2022 — over four years ago. Those transactions showed small director purchases totaling less than $15,000.

The 90-day net is zero. The stale data shows a net positive of 6,956 shares valued at $80,000 as of the last recorded period in early 2022.

Historical context

Alpha Compute reported earnings on March 11, January 13, December 12, 2025, and August 20, 2025. Price reaction data for the post-earnings sessions is not included in the snapshot.

The next earnings event is scheduled for July 24, 2026 at 8:00 PM UTC.

What to watch

Earnings are set for late July. Short sellers have built a 48%-of-float position over a compressed timeline — the bulk accumulated in April. The 201% borrow cost and 75% utilisation suggest a tight lending market. HC Wainwright's $2 target sits nearly 10x the current price.