Short percent of float is the fraction of a stock's publicly tradable shares currently sold short, reported by FINRA on a bi-monthly settlement schedule.
A short percent of float above roughly 20% is considered high and can mean one of two very different things: either a widely-held bearish thesis with real conviction, or the setup for a short squeeze — if the price rallies unexpectedly, short sellers covering their positions can force the price up further and faster than fundamentals alone would suggest, since covering a short means buying.
Because a high reading is genuinely ambiguous — bearish conviction and squeeze risk both push the number the same way — short percent of float is most useful paired with other signals (price action, options positioning, insider activity) rather than read on its own.
Above roughly 20% is generally considered high, though what counts as unusual varies by sector and average trading volume.
Not necessarily — it can equally set up a short squeeze if the price rallies, since short sellers must buy shares to cover, which can push the price up further and faster.
It lags by design — FINRA publishes short interest on a bi-monthly settlement schedule, so there is no true real-time feed of how much of a float is currently shorted.
Browse all S&P 500 tickers to see this metric applied to individual companies.
Educational research only — not investment advice.