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Crypto 101

2 Short-Squeeze Candidates Waiting for the Right Catalyst

By Thomas Hughes. Date Posted: 9/29/2026.

Stocks with high short interest are a dime a dozen; the question is whether short sellers can cover quickly, which is indicated by days to cover. Days to cover measures how many days of average trading volume it would take short sellers to close out 100% of their positions. The higher the figure, the better it is for investors looking for a squeeze, and a figure above five is generally considered favorable. More than five days to cover suggests that short sellers may have difficulty closing their positions, provided an explosive catalyst emerges.

Hertz Global: Engine Is Running, Just Waiting for the Signal

Hertz Global (NASDAQ: HTZ) is among the most heavily shorted stocks on the market and is exhibiting classic signs of a potential short squeeze. Depending on the platform, short interest ranges from approximately 30% at the low end to as much as 75%, with a high short ratio in the mix.

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On August 15, 1971, Nixon interrupted prime-time television and ended the gold standard in 15 minutes - no debate, no vote, one executive order. Gold tripled within three years and climbed 20x over the following decade.

Trump holds that same executive authority today, and his advisors are openly saying a reversal is on the table. There are two ways this plays out - both move gold in the same direction.

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The high short ratio is a key factor because it indicates that it would take more than a week of buying at normal volume to close out the short positions. Some platforms report as many as 11.5 days to cover. With this dynamic in place, the market needs only a catalyst to invigorate retail trading and drive demand for available shares, sending short sellers scrambling to cover and potentially sending the share price sharply higher.

Catalysts include the company’s growth and pathway to profitability. Recent results reflect unexpected strengths, including improved core fleet efficiency metrics, a smaller fleet size, 9% revenue-per-unit growth and 8% revenue-per-day growth. Looking ahead, the company is expected to reach profitability over the coming year and may surprise investors with good news along the way.

Hertz's 2026 strategy rests on four pillars: fleet age, stabilizing depreciation, expanding service areas and extending vehicle lifecycles. Fleet age is central; by reducing the overall fleet age to an average of about two to three years, the company aims to lower maintenance and repair costs. Short sellers focus on the company’s high debt.

Meanwhile, the fleet mix is also changing, with fewer EVs to better align with the company’s depreciation profile. For growth, the strategy focuses on markets outside airports, its traditional area of strength. These markets provide more predictable revenue with less exposure to holiday-related fluctuations. Likewise, targeting the rideshare and delivery markets can extend vehicle lifecycles and improve monetization by giving drivers easier access to vehicles.

Analyst trends are a headwind. The eight analysts MarketBeat tracks rate the stock as a Reduce, and price targets are falling. While consensus forecasts imply about 80% upside, the trend points to the low end of that range, well below late-September trading levels. Institutions, however, own nearly 100% of the shares and have been accumulating them at these low levels, raising the stakes for short sellers.

SoundHound AI: An Execution Story in Play

SoundHound (NASDAQ: SOUN) is another heavily shorted stock, with short interest above 40% as of mid-September. The risks include cash burn and execution. Skeptics wonder whether the company can successfully monetize its backlog and transition to profitability while integrating major acquisitions such as LivePerson. Again, days to cover matters. MarketBeat data indicates seven days to cover—more than a week of trading volume—suggesting that this market is a tinderbox waiting to be lit. Catalysts include quarterly outperformance, which appears possible given the company’s trends and rapid LivePerson integration.

LivePerson is a key element of the strategy, validating SoundHound’s ability to scale rapidly and capitalize on cross-selling opportunities if the integration succeeds. Other catalysts include product innovation, including agentic AI and in-car voice assistance. The Oasys Edge platform aims to open new addressable markets by enabling localized AI deployment without an internet connection, while deals with Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) and NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) are strengthening its position as a leader in agentic automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) software.

The market gets SoundHound wrong by treating it as a niche, automotive-focused company with dubious leverage. It is transitioning into an enterprise-quality vendor that provides consumer-facing interfaces across the stack and is starting to show leverage at scale. The Oasys Edge and LivePerson acquisitions are central to the strategy, creating an omnichannel provider with voice, web, mobile and SMS capabilities that already serves 25% of the Fortune 100. The question is whether the company can integrate these systems into a universal product and expand its user base, which would represent the optimal scenario.

Conversely, the seven analysts covering SoundHound rate it a consensus Moderate Buy, with more than 50% of analysts issuing Buy ratings. They see a price floor near $6, aligning with the critical support target, and more than 100% upside at the midpoint target. Good news could trigger a move toward consensus; the key question is whether it will be enough to lift sentiment and prompt analysts to raise their price targets.

Paramount Skydance Clears a Major Warner Bros. Discovery Hurdle—Here's What Comes Next

By Jeffrey Neal Johnson. Date Posted: 9/22/2026.

When state regulators intervened in July 2026 to block Paramount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, investors expected a lengthy courtroom fight. Instead, a multistate antitrust settlement announced on Sept. 21 removed the main legal barrier confronting the approximately $111 billion transaction. Markets responded immediately. Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) moved toward its 52-week peak, while Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ: PSKY) saw active trading volume.

For investors tracking the entertainment sector, the core question is no longer whether regulators will halt the combination outright. Attention has shifted to what Paramount Skydance conceded to reach an agreement, how the combined business plans to manage its balance-sheet leverage, and whether current market prices leave room for future returns. Understanding those variables begins with the regulatory clearance and the substantial commercial scale it unlocks.

Greenlighting a $66 Billion Media Script

Your father's savings lost half their value after 1971. (Ad)

On August 15, 1971, Nixon interrupted prime-time television and ended the gold standard in 15 minutes - no debate, no vote, one executive order. Gold tripled within three years and climbed 20x over the following decade.

Trump holds that same executive authority today, and his advisors are openly saying a reversal is on the table. There are two ways this plays out - both move gold in the same direction.

A free briefing breaks down exactly what Nixon did, why Trump is positioned to act, and how to move your 401k into gold before any announcement - tax free.

Request the free guide in 30 seconds and get positioned now

The multistate settlement resolves litigation brought by state attorneys general and the Writers Guild. By finalizing the agreement ahead of the Sept. 30, 2026, deadline, Paramount Skydance avoids contractual ticking fees that would have penalized the buyer by hundreds of millions of dollars for closing delays.

Beyond lifting the immediate legal cloud, the transaction creates an entertainment entity with roughly $66.06 billion in annual revenue. That figure combines Warner Bros. Discovery's approximately $37.30 billion business with Paramount Skydance's roughly $28.76 billion top line.

In modern media, distribution reach is critical to survival. Combining the Max and Paramount+ streaming platforms addresses the industry's persistent challenge of fragmented direct-to-consumer (DTC) footprints. Consolidating subscriber bases could increase platform engagement, reduce churn and provide a clearer path toward positive earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Uniting both studio lots under one corporate leadership structure also gives Chief Executive Officer David Ellison substantial leverage over theatrical scheduling and global content licensing.

Script Notes From Regulators: What the Concessions Demand

Regulatory clearance required tangible concessions. State officials imposed several binding operational conditions designed to preserve regional employment and industry diversity:

• Production Commitments: Paramount Skydance agreed to invest an additional $1.5 billion in domestic production over the next five years. The combined studio must release at least 30 movies theatrically per year, increasing to 32 titles by the third year. Missing these benchmarks triggers the mandatory divestiture of Miramax Studios.

• Studio Footprint Protections: Paramount Skydance pledged to maintain active operations at both the Melrose Avenue lot in Hollywood and the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank for at least five years.

• Independent News Oversight: Independent editorial boards will oversee CBS News and CNN to protect journalistic integrity.

• Labor and Platform Guarantees: The agreement allocates $47.5 million to an industry worker fund and safeguards distribution for free, ad-supported streaming television platforms, specifically Pluto TV.

While these terms restrict aggressive headcount reductions and prevent real estate sales, they preserve the underlying production engines. Rather than impairing long-term earnings capacity, the mandated production quotas ensure a reliable stream of intellectual property to support theatrical box office, home entertainment and streaming engagement.

Re-Engineering Debt Across 2 Studios

Managing the capital structure remains the primary operational hurdle for the combined business. Paramount Skydance carries a debt-to-equity ratio of about 1.13, while Warner Bros. Discovery maintains a ratio of approximately 0.90. To address legacy liabilities, Paramount Skydance extended the expiration dates for its outstanding debt exchange and tender offers on Sept. 21, 2026.

Debt tenders are a standard financial mechanism that allows an acquirer to retire or refinance existing bonds under standardized terms. By extending these deadlines, management gains time to align maturities and covenants, mitigating the risk of credit-rating downgrades or debt acceleration.

Operating cash flow provides crucial support during this integration phase. Warner Bros. Discovery generates around $8.17 per share in cash flow, while Paramount Skydance produces approximately $12.87 per share. These cash streams offer a financial cushion to service the combined debt load while meeting the settlement's $1.5 billion domestic production mandate.

Warner Nears Parity While Paramount Offers Value

Following the settlement, trading patterns revealed a clear split in how the market values each entity.

Warner Bros. Discovery gained 10.79% on Sept. 21 to close at $30.80, with more than 234 million shares changing hands. That was more than 13 times its average daily volume of approximately 17.96 million shares. The stock reached an intraday high of about $30.92, hovering near the upper end of Wall Street's high-price target of $32. This compressed arbitrage spread suggests institutional desks see a very high likelihood of deal completion.

Paramount Skydance tells a different story. Paramount Skydance’s stock price reached an intraday high of about $11.49 before closing lower at roughly $9.91, down 2.94% on the session. Paramount Skydance trades at a discount across several traditional metrics, including a price-to-sales multiple of roughly 0.39 and a price-to-book valuation of about 0.85. The company also offers a dividend yield of just over 2%.

Elevated short interest and an analyst consensus rating of Reduce point to market skepticism about integration costs. Yet, with projected earnings growth near 39.3%, this valuation gap may reflect market caution rather than broken fundamentals.

What the New Studio Powerhouse Means for Portfolios

The remaining path to deal completion involves mechanical execution rather than regulatory resistance. Management must conclude the outstanding debt tenders, finalize administrative filings and coordinate distribution networks. Potential risks remain, including a macroeconomic slowdown in linear television advertising and the logistical friction of unifying two corporate cultures.

Market pricing suggests Warner Bros. Discovery shares have largely captured the transaction's direct financial benefits. For investors monitoring the sector, Paramount Skydance offers an interesting profile. Those watching long-term media consolidation may assess whether Paramount Skydance's discounted book value provides an attractive entry point as the combined studio unlocks operational scale.