A 14.71% borrow rate for Datavault AI Inc. (DVLT) indicates a significant cost for short sellers and can be a strong signal for potential short squeeze risks. This rate, as observed on Fintel, reflects the annualized interest short sellers must pay to borrow shares, and a higher rate typically suggests high demand to short the stock coupled with a limited supply of shares available for borrowing.1
Here's a breakdown of what this implies for DVLT:
- High Cost of Shorting: A 14.71% borrow rate means that short sellers are incurring substantial daily costs to maintain their positions. This financial pressure intensifies if the stock price remains stagnant or rises, making short positions less attractive and potentially forcing short sellers to cover.
- Limited Supply of Shares: The high borrow rate often correlates with a low supply of shares available to short. Fintel data shows that as of August 6, 2025, only 0.15 million shares were available to short for DVLT.1 A scarcity of available shares can exacerbate price movements if demand to cover surges.
- Short Interest Context: While the borrow rate is high, it's crucial to look at other short interest metrics. DVLT currently has a short interest of 4.99 million shares, representing 8.11% of its float.1 This percentage, while not extremely high compared to some meme stocks, is still notable.
- Days to Cover: With 2.50 days to cover, short sellers would need approximately two and a half trading days to repurchase all outstanding shorted shares based on average daily trading volume.1 A low "Days to Cover" figure might suggest that short covering could be absorbed relatively quickly, but in conjunction with a high borrow rate and limited shares, it could still lead to rapid price appreciation under certain conditions.
- Off-Exchange Short Volume: Fintel also reports an Off-Exchange Short Volume Ratio of 52.07% for DVLT, indicating a significant portion of short selling activity occurs outside traditional exchanges.2 This can sometimes obscure the full picture of short pressure.
In summary, DVLT's 14.71% borrow rate is a key indicator of elevated short squeeze potential, driven by the high cost of maintaining short positions and limited share availability. However, the overall short interest as a percentage of float and days to cover also play critical roles in assessing the full extent of this risk.
