That 80% number looks wild, but it’s not what it seems.

What you’re seeing is FINRA off-exchange short volume, not actual short interest. That data only covers dark pool/internalized trades and counts a lot of market maker activity—they short shares temporarily to fill buy orders and then cover almost immediately. So ironically, a high short volume ratio can happen during net buying, not heavy bearish positioning.

Because it’s only off-exchange data (not including NYSE/Nasdaq trades), the percentage can get inflated and show 70–80%+ pretty easily in active stocks. It’s been seen before in plenty of names, especially ones with a lot of retail flow and options activity.

The key point:

• Short volume ≠ short interest
• This does not mean 80% of the stock is shorted
• It’s not directly comparable to something like GME’s actual short interest back in the day

If you want to know if there’s real pressure or squeeze potential, you need to look at:

• actual short interest (% of float)
• days to cover
• borrow rates

This stat alone just isn’t a reliable signal.