16 Stocks That Could Squeeze Shorts This Month

The article argues that, despite tech-stock rotations and memory/semiconductor profit taking, short sellers may be facing losses as price levels move against them. Using prior short-interest reporting (most recent period dated 6/15) and estimated entry prices based on the average of the prior two weeks, it highlights names with significant short builds that could be poised for covering. Featured stocks include D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), DigitalOcean Holdings (DOCN), and Macy’s (M), framed as potential contrarian opportunities if pullbacks prove more than a temporary dip.

Analysis

This is a positioning story more than a fundamentals story. When a crowded short gets only modestly underwater, the first-order move is a reflexive squeeze, but the second-order effect is worse liquidity: spreads widen, trend-followers add, and dealer hedging can push the move 1-3 sessions beyond where models expect. That matters most in QBTS/QUBT, where small-float names can gap on incremental retail flow; M is less interesting because any squeeze there should be capped quickly without an earnings revision.

The trap is confusing short P&L with durable upside. Quantum names still face months-long risks: revenue conversion is slow, cash burn remains high, and dilution/ATM financing can neutralize a squeeze once the next capital raise or guidance reset hits. If the next earnings cycle does not show actual commercial traction, shorts can re-enter on strength, especially after the next short-interest print validates that the crowded trade has already been partially de-risked.

Contrarian view: the screen may be late because the assumed short entry price is crude and stale. If shorts were added higher but later covered, or if borrow has improved, the pain trade is smaller than it looks. The market is probably overestimating the significance of M and underestimating how quickly QBTS/QUBT can reverse once the flow ends; this is a tactical trade, not a multi-month conviction long.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Tactically buy 2-4 week QBTS or QUBT call spreads on weakness; target a 15-25% squeeze, but take profits into any two-day vertical move and stop if the stock closes below the 20-day moving average.
• Prefer IONQ as cleaner quantum exposure versus chasing the most crowded short names; if you want sector beta with less dilution risk, pair long IONQ / short QBTS or QUBT.
• Fade any M spike with put spreads or a small short into strength; treat it as a technical event unless the next earnings print materially lifts guidance or margins.
• Set an alert for the next short-interest update and upcoming earnings for QBTS/QUBT; if the stocks fail to hold gains into that window, the squeeze thesis is likely exhausted.