In October, short sellers ramped up pressure on small- and mid-cap stocks, Barron’s reports. Short interest in these companies rose to 7.5% from 7.3% in September, according to Melissa Roberts, an analyst with Stephens. For megacaps, it edged down to 1.8% from 1.9%. Roberts flagged healthcare small caps and mid-cap consumer-lending names among the most targeted stocks.

Medical

Two medical-device makers, STAAR Surgical and Delcath Systems, have drawn heavier shorting, Roberts notes.

STAAR Surgical develops, manufactures, and sells implantable lenses. In early August, the stock jumped more than 50% to $27 per share after major ophthalmology player Alcon agreed to acquire the company in a deal valued around $1.5 billion, above STAAR’s market cap at the time. STAAR closed yesterday, October 29, at $26.60 per share.

Delcath Systems is developing targeted therapy for liver cancer. On October 20, shares fell nearly 12% to $10.40 per share after third-quarter results missed analyst expectations. The company also cut its 2025 sales outlook to $83-85 million from $93-96 million, prompting six analysts to lower their forecasts, Simply Wall St noted.

Financials

Cloud-based AI underwriting platform Upstart Holdings and auto-loan provider Credit Acceptance are also in shorts’ sights, Roberts says.

Upstart has sold off recently on worries about consumer credit after the bankruptcy of subprime auto lender Tricolor, the Motley Fool writes. Shares are down about 20% year to date, including 7.6% over the past month. In mid-October, Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the stock to “sell” and lowered its target price to $54 per share from $78, according to Yahoo Finance data. Upstart closed yesterday at $48.70 per share.

Credit Acceptance is down more than 8% over the past five sessions at $459.00 per share. The company reports third-quarter results today, October 30; the Street expects revenue growth of 31.8% year over year.

Hospitality

Mid-cap chain Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is another prominent short target, per S&P Global Market Intelligence cited by Barron’s. After a tough year that included a logo and store redesign that alienated some loyal customers – and was later paused – shares are down nearly 23% over the past month despite no fresh negative news. On August 17, Wells Fargo initiated at a $42 per share target price, about 21% above the October 29 close.

Meme stocks

Short pressure is also rising in Beyond Meat and 1-800-Flowers.com, both frequently called “meme stocks."

Beyond Meat repeatedly set new lows since late September. Shares first plunged 36% after the company launched a convertible-bond swap to cut leverage, then fell another 48% on October 13 when holders agreed to the swap. A mid-October, four-day social-media-driven surge then sent the stock up nearly 1,400%, inflicting roughly $120 million in mark-to-market losses on shorts, according to S3 Partners.

1-800-Flowers.com is loss-making and has shed 55% of its market value this year. It reported a fiscal-fourth-quarter adjusted net loss of $43.8 million, or $0.69 per share, about 30% below the consensus, MarketBeat reported. The stock saw a rally last week, but is down 27% over the past five days.

Matthew Unterman, S3 Partners’ managing director of short selling, pointed to two other meme stocks that shorts are circling: Opendoor Technologies and Krispy Kreme. Opendoor is up nearly 380% in 2025 amid a high-profile promotional campaign from hedge-fund manager Eric Jackson – whose viral posts helped spark retail momentum, Reuters reported. In late October, Morgan Stanley raised its target price to $6 per share from $3 ahead of the third-quarter results, though the new target is still below the market price.

Krispy Kreme participated in the summer meme surge, and in September jumped 12% intraday after FBI Director Kash Patel called the stock a “good investment” during congressional testimony. As of the close yesterday, the company’s market cap is down 62% year to date.

The AI translation of this story was reviewed by a human editor.

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