Trading Volume Explodes as Energous Shorts Run for Cover

Wireless technology stock Energous Corp (NASDAQ:WATT) received some good news this morning, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted certification for the company's WattUp Mid Field wireless charging transmitter. This marks the first FCC certification for power-at-a-distance wireless charging, per a company press release.

The FCC milestone has sent WATT up an astounding 83.1% to trade at $16.18 this morning. Prior to today's surge, WATT stock had lost 47% in 2017, and fell to an annual low of $6.91 on Nov. 9. However, the equity briefly surged into positive year-to-date territory at its early high of $17.22 (breakeven for 2017 stands at $16.85). The shares are now on track to close above their 200-day moving average for the first time since July. 

Checking out the stock's sentiment backdrop, it seems safe to say that a short squeeze is playing out. Short interest decreased by 4.9% during the last reporting period to 5.05 million shares, but still represents a whopping 32% of WATT's total available float. At the equity's average daily trading volume, it would take more than 20 days for the shorts to fully cover their positions.

That said, today's trading volume in Energous stock hardly qualifies as "average." About half an hour into the session, 5.34 million WATT shares have crossed the tape -- which already represents a new 52-week high for share volume.