Avis Budget climbs to record high amid massive short squeeze

Avis Budget

22/04/2026 15:37

** Shares of car rental company Avis Budget CAR.O rise 2.3% to a fresh peak of $728.93

** Shares up 400% so far this month, as analysts point to a short squeeze that has dealt steep losses to investors betting against the stock

** High short interest makes a stock more vulnerable to a short squeeze, as investors betting against the company are forced to unwind their positions when its share price rises sharply

** As of Monday, 86.2% of the co's free float shorted, per Ortex data

** Two funds, SRS Investment Management and Pentwater Capital Management, hold about 69% of CAR's outstanding shares, per LSEG data, sharply shrinking the available float for trading

** Barclays downgraded the stock to "underweight" from "equal-weight" on Monday, saying current stock price is not justified even with improved fundamentals

** Including session's moves, CAR shares have jumped 477.6% YTD, far outpacing the 5.6% rise in the Nasdaq .IXIC

 (Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru)

 ((Ragini.Mathur@thomsonreuters.com;))