The week of May 11 was defined by violent short-side reversals. Several small-caps saw shorts exit at speed, while a handful of speculative names attracted aggressive new bearish positioning. Borrow costs across micro-cap land remained extreme, with multiple names printing triple-digit CTB rates.
LZMH — LZ Technology Holdings Short interest jumped 446% week-on-week. SI % FF rose from 0.86% to 5.13%. The stock fell 93% over the past month. Cost to borrow stands at ~49%.
SHAZ — SharonAI Holdings SI % FF climbed from 6.52% to 8.63% — a 99% jump in borrowed shares to 847k. Utilization hit 91%. The stock rallied 68% this month. Shorts and the tape are in direct conflict.
HUBC — HUB Cyber Security SI % FF sits at a towering 111.5% of free float, though down sharply from 167.8% last week. Cost to borrow holds at 87%. The short overhang here remains one of the largest in the coverage universe.
QUCY — Quantum Cyber SI hits 30.66% of free float. Cost to borrow: 541%. The borrow market is effectively seized. This is a critical convergence point this week.
ZTG — Zenta Group Short interest plunged 75% in one week to just 40,799 shares. SI % FF dropped from 3.95% to 1.03%. Cost to borrow surged to 80% — shorts appear to be covering into rising borrow costs.
CYAB — Cyabra SI fell 57.5% to 307k shares. CTB stabilized at 95% after spiking above 230%. The rapid exit suggests a forced cover or profit-taking by bears.
PN — Skycorp Solar Short interest collapsed 98% in one week to just 8,288 shares. Yet cost to borrow remains at 773%. The stock fell 42.5%. Bears mostly gone — but the few remaining pay dearly.
This week's pulse data spans a broad, mixed universe with no clean sector cluster. The dominant theme is speculative small-cap and micro-cap volatility, where both sides — longs and shorts — are making large, fast moves.
Several AI and tech-branded small-caps drew short attention. SHAZ, LZMH, and XHLD (TEN Holdings, SI up 131.6% to 0.18% of float, CTB 25%) all saw short interest surge this week. These names share thin floats, elevated CTB, and recent strong price performance — a setup that historically precedes sharp squeezes or equally sharp reversals.
On the exit side, ZTG, CYAB, PN, and NIPG (SI down 40%, CTB fell 45% to 16%) all saw meaningful short covering. Across this group, CTB compression tracked the SI decline — consistent with a genuine cover, not just position rolling.
Earnings-adjacent bearish activity was also notable. TJX bears piled in ahead of May 20 results. DXCM saw shorts build with a May 27 earnings date on the horizon. CTRI options turned bearish into its May 19 report. All three carry low CTB — suggesting institutional-scale positioning, not speculative micro-cap activity.
Several ORTEX convergence signals fired this week where short data, options, and borrow market indicators aligned simultaneously.
PSTV — Plus Therapeutics — Borrow market fully locked. CTB at 217%. SI % FF: 18.5%. No shares available to short without paying up significantly.
QUCY — Quantum Cyber — SI at 46% of float (per convergence signal). CTB at 541%. The borrow market has imploded. This is one of the most extreme short-side setups in the current dataset.
YOOV — Concorde International — SI reportedly surged 6,421% in one week. CTB at 352%. A stock that did not exist on most short-seller radars last week is now a flashpoint.
TRAW — Traws Pharma — CTB hit 292% (currently 297%). SI % FF at 42.5%. Borrow market in crisis territory.
QUBT — Quantum Computing — SI at 31.5% of float. CTB remains low at just 2.2%, but bulls are taking charge in options. The borrow market is tightening as call buyers step in — a classic bull/bear standoff.
FCEL — FuelCell Energy — SI at 9.15% of float. Options call buyers dominate even as shorts add positions. Diverging signals between the short book and options desk.
DXCM — DexCom — Bears building with May 27 earnings approaching. SI at 4.87% of float. CTB near zero — this is institutional-scale shorting at minimal cost ahead of a catalyst.
AAL — American Airlines — SI hit a five-week high at 12.1% of float. Cost to borrow remains negligible. Bears are circling the airline again.
ERNA — Ernexa Therapeutics — CTB hit a record 877% on earnings day. The most expensive borrow in the current dataset.
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.
