20 Stocks With More Than 30% of Float Shorted: Short Squeeze Plays

by Fred Fuld III

Are you looking for some short squeeze plays? Are you looking for stocks that have over 30% of their float shorted?

Here is a list of 20 stocks that fit this criteria.

Altimeter Growth Corp. AGC
Beam Global BEEM
BEST Inc. BEST
Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation BGFV
Blink Charging Co. BLNK
Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. ESPR
Arcimoto, Inc. FUV
Canoo Inc. GOEV
Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ICPT
Kaixin Auto Holdings KXIN
Nikola Corporation NKLA
NeuroPace, Inc. NPCE
PubMatic, Inc. PUBM
Lordstown Motors Corp. RIDE
Reneo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. RPHM
SmileDirectClub, Inc. SDC
Support.com, Inc. SPRT
Tattooed Chef, Inc. TTCF
View, Inc. VIEW
VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings VIH

 

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.

Stocks with the Highest Short Interest: Short Squeeze Plays

by Fred Fuld III

As I write this, the Dow Jones Industrial  Average is down 477, and the S&P is also down. Maybe while the market has dropped so much, now might be the time to look for short squeeze opportunities.

Here is a review about the short squeeze and its terminology. When you short a stock, it means that your goal is to make money from a drop in the price of a stock. Technically, what happens is that you borrow shares of a stock, sell those shares, then buy back those shares at a hopefully lower price so that those shares can be returned. This all happens electronically, so you don’t actually see all the borrowing and returning of shares; it just shows up on your screen as a negative number of shares.

Short selling can be profitable, but sometimes when the stock moves against the short sellers, and begins to rise, the short sellers jump in right away to buy shares to cover their positions, creating what is called a short squeeze. When a short squeeze takes place, it can cause the share prices to increase fast and furiously. Any good news can trigger the short squeeze.

Some traders utilize this situation by looking for stocks to buy that may have a potential short squeeze. Here is what a short squeeze trader should take into consideration:

Short Percentage of Float ~ The float is the number of freely tradable shares and the short percentage is the number of shares held short divided by the float. Amounts over 10% to 20% are considered high and potential short squeeze plays.

Short Ratio / Days to Cover / Short Interest Ratio -This is probably the most important metric when looking for short squeeze trades, no matter what you call it. This is the number of days it would take the short sellers to cover their position based on the average daily volume of shares traded. This is a significant ratio as it shows how “stuck” the short sellers are when they want to buy in their shares without driving up the price too much. Unfortunately for the shortsellers, the longer the number of days to cover, the bigger and longer the squeeze.

Short Percentage Increase ~ This is the percentage increase in in the number of short sellers from the previous month.

Check out the following list, but be aware, that often some stocks are heavily shorted for a reason. All these stocks have significant short metrics.

Stock Symbol % Float Shorted Days to Cover Stock Price
Workhorse WKHS 35% 2.2 8.97
Arcimoto FUV 34% 5.4 10.94
Blink BLNK 34% 6.2 30.09
Support.com SPRT 33% 1.5 8.31

So as an example, Arcimoto has 34% of the float shorted, and it will takeover five days for the short sellers to cover their positions, based on the average daily volume.

Obviously, there is no guarantee that these stocks will go up, but if I was short any stock, I wouldn’t want to waste any time covering my position if the stock started to move up sharply, before all the other short sellers clamor in and drive the price way up.

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written

Stocks Selling Below Cash Per Share and Little Debt

Do you think a return of 40% over a period of less than three years is pretty good? How about 157%? Those are the actual returns of stocks that you could have bought less than three years ago that were selling for less than the cash per share.

What is cash per share?

In simple terms, cash per share is the amount of cash the company has sitting in the banks divided by the number of shares. So if the company has little or no debt, and you can buy the stock below the amount of cash per share, you are getting a bargain. If the company went out of business today and all the inventory and equipment and all other assets were totally worthless, you would still make a profit because the cash you would receive for each share would exceed the price you paid.

Real Life Examples of Stocks that were Selling Below Cash

Let’s get back to those real life examples mentioned in the first paragraph of this article. MEI Pharma (MEIP) is an oncology company focused on the clinical development of therapeutics to treat cancer. Back in November of 2015, the stock was selling for 1.64, yet it had cash per share of 1.70, providing a discount to investors of 3.5% to the cash. Since that time, the stock has risen to 2.31, a gain of 40.85%. Not a bad investment for less than three years. Then there is Support.com (SPRT), a provider of cloud-based software and services. In November 2015, it was trading at 1.09, with cash per share of 1.25, a 12.8% discount to cash. The stock has now shot up to 2.81, a spectacular gain of 157.8%.

But what about companies that have a reverse split?

This is a great question. Let’s look at bebe (BEBE), the women’s clothing company, over the same time frame as the previously mentioned stocks. It was trading at a 22.6% discount to cash. Back then, the stock was trading at 0.41 per share, but the company had a 10 for 1 reverse split in December of 2016. What this meant was that for every 10 shares that you own prior to the split, you would now only have one share. So the effective cost basis of the original purchase price would be 4.10. The stock just closed last Friday at 7.00 per share, giving investors a 70.7% return. (To clarify this, assume you buy 1,000 shares at 41 cents, for a total cost of $410. The reverse split takes place, you now only have 100 shares at 7.00 or $7.00 total value, a gain of over 70%.)

Does the stock need to trade at a huge discount to make money?

Absolutely not. Here is a great example. GenCorp Industries (GENC) traded at a 0.1% discount to cash back then, actually one penny below the cash per share. The stock has gone from 10.18 to 15.50 a share, a very decent gain. But that’s not all. The stock declared a 3 for 2 stock split (what I call a “good stock split”) in July of 2016, which was effectively a 50% stock dividend. In other words, one and a half shares for every one share that you own. So the true gain on this stock from November 2015 is an incredible 128.3%.

Risks of Buying Below Cash Stocks

  • Possibility that the company is what we used to call the “walking dead” and what we now call “zombies”. These are companies that will continue to stumble along, never really grow but never go out of business, and they’ll just hold on to all their cash
  • Possibility that management may spend the company’s cash like a drunken sailor.
  • For biotech companies, the possibility that they will burn all their cash before they come out with an FDA approved drug

Advantages of Buying Below Cash Stocks

  • Provides a downside cushion for the stock price
  • In the event of bankruptcy or liquidation, excellent chance of getting back more money than your investment
  • Provides the company with a solid balance sheet – they can easily make payroll, buy new equipment, make acquisitions, without having to borrow

But the stock market is trading at lofty levels

Are there still stocks that can be purchased for less than cash per share? Yes, there are actually over a dozen different companies with stock prices below cash per share with little or no debt.

So what are some other companies selling below cash?

WStNN.com has come up with a list of over a dozen companies that are currently trading below their cash per share, and have little or no debt. If you are interested in getting this list, just subscribe to our newsletter. We will be emailing the list in an Excel format to all subscribers who have subscribed by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, May 8. The list, which will be sent out the following day, will provide the following:

  • Company name
  • Stock ticker symbol
  • Country where the company is based
  • Price per share
  • Cash per share
  • Percentage discount to cash
  • Debt to Equity

However, you must subscribe by May 8 in order to get this free list. The reason why we have this short timeframe is that the information may become stale a week from now, and we want you to get timely information.

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Debt Free Stocks Selling Below Cash

Are you looking for stocks that are almost guaranteed not to go out of business? If so, you should look for stocks selling below cash per share. In fact, if you want an almost certain way of of making a profit, putting your money into stocks selling below cash is the way to go. Many stocks have been beaten down to very low prices due to tax selling, creating bargain basement opportunities.

Here is what it means when a stock sells below cash per share? First, assuming the company has no debt,  you take the amount of cash that the company has in the bank and divide it by the outstanding number of shares. That represents the cash per share. If a stock is trading for less than that amount, it is a bargain, because if the company went out of business immediately, everything would be liquidated and disbursed on a per share basis. Even if all the company’s inventory, equipment, and real estate were worth nothing, all that cash would provide the investor with a profit.

Once a stock sells for below cash per share, it starts to attract t6he attention of hedge funds, analysts, and companies looking for a takeover candidate, all of which can drive the price of a stock up. You may be wondering, do such stocks really currently exist? The answer is ‘Yes’ and here are a few of them.

Emerson radio (MSN) is a marketer of consumer electronic products and various housewares. The company has about $1.91 in cash per share, yet sells for less than half that amount. The stock trades at 7.5 times forward earnings. The company is debt free.

NeuroMetrix (NURO) makes and markets wearable neuro-stimulation therapeutic devices. Cash per share is $1.37, with the stock selling more than 20% below that. This debt free company has been generating negative earnings, but the stock has a favorable price to sales ratio of 0.70.

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (OGXI) develops products that are designed to block the production of specific proteins that promote treatment resistance in cancer. The stock is selling for less than half the amount of cash per share. The company has a small amount of debt.

Here are a list of several below cash stocks.

Symbol Price Cash/shr Discount to Cash Debt/Equity
MSN 0.82 1.91 57.07% 0
NURO 1.06 1.37 22.63% 0
OGXI 0.46 1.09 57.80% 0.01
ONTX 2.63 3.50 24.86% 0
PCO 6.20 6.58 5.78% 0
RBCN 0.52 0.60 13.33% 0
SPRT 0.70 0.97 27.84% 0
VICL 2.55 3.40 25.00% 0
WGA 0.20 0.22 9.09% 0

Remember to do your research before investing, since most of these have very low market caps and limited trading which reduces liquidity. If you like interesting stock lists like this, you should check out many of the stock lists here.

Disclosure: Author owns RBCN, SPRT, and VICL.

Is the Stock Market Overpriced When You Can Still Buy Stocks Below Cash?

If an investor is looking for stocks with favorable fundamentals, one of the best is the cash per share ratio. What this refers to is the amount of cash that would be distributed for each share if the entire company were liquidated today, and the proceeds divided among all the shareholders. That amount of cash would then be compared to the current price per share. If the stock is trading for less than the amount of cash per share, then it is a bargain.

In addition, if the stock has no debt, then it is even a better bargain, because in the event of liquidation, no loans would have to be paid off; all proceeds would go to the shareholders. With no debt and lots of cash, it’s hard for a company to go out of business, unless management spends money like drunken sailors.

The big question is, do such stocks exist? Here are a few.

Barnwell Industries, Inc. (BRN) is a producer and distributor of natural gas in Canada. The cash per share is 2.25 per share, yet the stock sells for only 1.55. This debt free company trades at 26 times trailing earnings. The stock also has a very favorable price to sales ratio of 0.87 and about a 23% discount to book value.

Chimerix, Inc. (CMRX) is a biotech company involved in the development of oral antivirals. This debt free stock, which is currently trading at 4.71 per share, has 5.90 in cash per share. The company is currently generating negative earnings, but on the positive side, it has a price to book value of 0.73.

Support.com (SPRT) is a provider of cloud-based software and services. The debt-free stock has total cash per share of 1.05, yet sells for 87 cents per share. Earnings have been negative.

Potential investors should be aware that all of the above are low cap companies and should be considered very speculative. If you like interesting stock lists like this, check out the menu at the top of this page.

Disclosure: Author didn’t own any of the above at the time the article was written.