GameStop: the most shorted stock in America, 2019 to 2021

What the data showed

Between 15 Jan 2019 and 31 Dec 2021, FINRA's consolidated short interest in GameStop moved from 29.70% of shares outstanding to 11.07%. The high point in this window was 98.85% on 15 Jan 2020: close to every share the company had in issue was sold short, a level almost no other listed company of its size has reached in the eight years of FINRA data we hold.

The figure had been climbing since 2019 as the company's sales declined and its store-based model came under pressure; by the start of 2020 it sat near its high and stayed there for most of the year. The crowded position was public knowledge throughout: the numbers on this page were published by FINRA every two weeks.

January 2021

In January 2021 the share price rose many times over in a few weeks, driven by retail buying organised on social media and by short sellers buying back shares to close positions. Several brokers restricted buying in the stock on 28 January, and the episode became the subject of a congressional hearing in February. The settlement dates around the squeeze show short interest falling sharply as positions were covered: from the tens of percent seen in late 2020 to a fraction of that within two reports.

FINRA's days-to-cover figure, which divides the short position by average daily volume, peaked in this window at 25.82 days on 15 Jul 2020; it collapsed in early 2021 as volume exploded even before the position itself did.

Afterwards

Short interest never returned to its 2020 levels. By 31 Dec 2021 it stood at 11.07%, and the company's later share issuance increased the denominator further. The full history, including everything since, is on the GameStop Corp. Class A page.