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Short Interest

Glossary

Short interest represents the total number of shares that have been sold short but not yet covered (closed out). It is a measure of bearish sentiment in a stock and is expressed as a percentage of a company’s total outstanding shares.

Key Metrics:

  • High short interest may signal that investors expect the stock to decline
  • Low short interest indicates limited bearish bets against the stock
  • Short interest ratio (Days to Cover) measures how long it would take for short sellers to cover their positions based on average daily trading volume

Short interest is closely watched by traders, as excessive shorting can lead to short squeezes when prices unexpectedly rise, as occurred with Volkswagen in 2008, and Gamestop $GME in 2021.

You can view the short interest for any publicly traded stock on US Exchanges on the Unusual Whales Shorts page. Here's an example, using Gamestop $GME as of March 2025.

See also: Short Squeeze and Short Selling