TRAW, the small Nasdaq-listed pharma, has become one of the most expensive stocks to borrow in the US market. In one week, cost to borrow exploded from under 1.5% to 292% annualized — a rise of nearly 19,800%.
The lending pool is now fully exhausted. Availability has collapsed to zero. Every share in the borrow market is already lent out.
The timeline is stark. On May 7, cost to borrow sat at 1.47%. By May 8, it had jumped to 19.68%. By May 14, it reached 291.94%.
Short interest moved in lockstep. On May 7, SI stood at roughly 395,000 shares — around 4–5% of float. By May 13–14, it had ballooned past 2.6 million shares, hitting nearly 30% of free float.
That is a 455% increase in one week.
The ORTEX short score reflects the severity. It stood at 50.6 on May 7 — mid-range. It now sits at 82.5, ranking in the bottom 2nd percentile for utilization rank across the market.
When cost to borrow moves this fast, it usually signals a scramble for a limited supply of lendable shares. That scramble is now over — supply is gone.
Availability at 0% means new short positions cannot be opened through the standard borrow market. Any further demand for short exposure would need to be satisfied through other means, such as synthetic instruments, or wait for existing borrowers to return shares.
The stock itself has fallen 5.2% in the past day and 4.1% over the past week, trading at $1.63.
TRAW reports earnings on May 21 — six days away. The stock's history around earnings is volatile. In April 2026, it fell nearly 24% in a single day following a report. The prior event, in November 2025, saw a 13.6% gain.
OrbiMed Advisors, the largest known institutional holder with 11.8% of shares, added 597,729 shares on April 16 — the day after the most recent earnings drop. That $998,000 buy came at $1.67 per share, close to the current price.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open TRAW on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
