The six quantum computing stocks in our basket have had an amazing rally in 2024-2025 with an average return of +509%, even after being down -35% so far in 2025. But with such a dramatic run-up in stock price there are short sellers looking for a significant pullback in what they think are over-bought and over-hyped stocks. Total short interest in this basket of stocks is $1.83 billion with a 17.79% average SI % Float. (average U.S. SI % Float is 4.96%).

There was a huge increase in total short interest in our basket of quantum computing stocks in 2024, from $559 million to $2.78 billion, which was made up of $379 million of new short selling coupled with a 1.84 billion mark-to-market increase in the value of the shares shorted. Short sellers continued to build their positions even though they were incurring massive mark-to-market losses, an unwavering level of conviction even though their P\L statements were dripping in red ink.

So far in 2025 we still see a high level of conviction in the quantum computing short trade with $58 million of additional short selling in the first two weeks of the year, but now short sellers are swimming in mark-to-market profits. Total short interest in the basket of quantum computing stocks fell by $944 million, to $1.83 billion. This decrease was made up of $58 million of additional short selling which was more than offset by a $1.0 billion decline in the mark-to-market value of the shares shorted.

Short sellers have recouped more than a third of their 2024 mark-to-market losses and are now down “only” -$1.29 billion in 2024-2025 mark-to-market losses. Shorts were down -$2.05 billion in mark-to-market losses in 2024 and are already up +$760 million in 2025 mark-to-market profits.

This is a relatively crowded trade on the short side with an average 58.23 Crowded Score versus the U.S. average of 32.82. The trade got slightly more crowded this year as the 12/31/24 Crowded Score was 4.5 lower at 53.69. At the end of last year, the basket’s average Squeeze Score was eighty-nine due to the -$2.05 billion of mark-to-market losses, but the squeezability of these stocks evaporated due to the $760 million of mark-to-market profits in 2025. The basket’s Squeeze Score is now just twenty-eight and as long as these stocks continue to trend downwards, we should see continued short selling in these names and a reinvigoration of conviction on the short side.

Stock borrow rates have increased sharply for all of these stocks except for IONQ, taking a larger bite out of net-of-financing P\L. The following is the thirty-day change in stock borrow financing rates:

Stock borrowability in most of these names is limited, with less than a million shares of stock borrows available in QUBT, QMCO and ARQQ. But there are two million plus shares available to borrow in both RGTI and QBTS as well as twenty-two million shares of IONQ.

Short selling in QUBT, QMCO and ARQQ will be limited due to minimal stock borrow supply and if a trader does get a locate in the stock the stock borrow rates may make the short sale prohibitively expensive. Although there is some stock borrow availability in RGTI and QBTS stock borrow rates will continue to trend higher if short selling demand persists. Short sellers may be able to choke down 7% - 8% stock borrow fees but if rates spike into the +50% fee range that may take loo large a bite out of expected Alpha.

If a short seller wants to short a quantum computing stock, the safest and cheapest option is shorting IONQ. Expect more short side activity in IONQ if the downward sector trend continues and short sellers look for these stocks to give back some of their 2024 price moves.

Our Blacklight SaaS platform and Black App provides an up-to-date view of short selling and short covering on an equity, sector, index, or country-wide basis allowing investors\traders to better manage their existing long and short positions. The Black MaP and Black App products provide a total view of long and short positioning in the market with a breakdown between Active\Passive long investors, 24 Fund type entities, over 50k securities globally across 108 countries and data from 58 regulatory exchanges.

Want to know more?

Access this data in real time using S3’s BLACK APP or Contact us to get started.