Nasdaq Short Interest Scraper

Scrape short interest history from Nasdaq (nasdaq.com) for any Nasdaq-listed stock or ETF. Each row gives the settlement date, short interest, average daily volume, days to cover and the change versus the previous period, exported as JSON, CSV or Excel and callable as an API. Enter a ticker, press Start.

Target website: nasdaq.com

✨ Features of this Nasdaq short interest scraper

• Short interest history extraction — up to 24 semi-monthly settlements per symbol, newest first. Nasdaq only provides the last 12 months of data, so older history is not available.
• Period-over-period change — absolute change and percentage change versus the previous settlement are pre-computed.
• Spreadsheet-ready dates — every settlement carries both the original MM/DD/YYYY date and an ISO YYYY-MM-DD date.
• Multiple symbols and URLs — pass a list of tickers, or paste nasdaq.com quote pages.
• Stock and ETF support — choose the asset class, or let it be detected from a pasted URL.
• Incremental cache — name a cache project and repeat runs return only settlement dates you have not collected yet.
• Clear "no data" rows — symbols Nasdaq has no short interest for (such as NYSE-listed tickers) return an explicit message instead of silently disappearing.
• Proxy support — optional, off by default.
• No browser required — runs are fast and cheap.

🚀 How to scrape Nasdaq short interest in 5 steps

1. Sign up for a free Apify account — includes $5 monthly credit.
2. Open the actor page and click Try for free.
3. Enter one or more Ticker symbols (or paste Nasdaq quote URLs).
4. Click Start and wait for the run to complete.
5. Download results from the Output tab in JSON, CSV, or Excel format.

You can also run this actor via the Apify API or integrate it directly into your workflows using Zapier, Make, or n8n.

💰 Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-result billing based on the compute units a run consumes.

• New Apify accounts include $5 of free monthly credit.
• It costs significantly less to run than browser-based scrapers.
• Proxies are disabled by default, which keeps runs cheapest.

🔧 Input configuration

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
Ticker symbols (symbols)	array	—	AAPL	Nasdaq-listed tickers, for example AAPL, MSFT, QQQ.
Nasdaq quote URLs (startUrls)	array	—	—	Optional nasdaq.com quote pages. Stock or ETF is detected from the URL.
Asset class (assetClass)	string	—	stocks	stocks or etf, applied to the tickers above.
Max settlements per symbol (maxItems)	integer	—	5	Settlements returned per symbol, newest first. Nasdaq only provides the last 12 months (up to 24 settlements), so that is the maximum. 0 returns everything available.
Cache project name (cacheProjectName)	string	—	—	Remember scraped settlement dates across runs so repeat runs return only new ones.
Proxy configuration (proxyConfiguration)	object	—	no proxy	Optional proxy settings.

Supported URL types:

• https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/aapl/short-interest
• https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/etf/qqq/short-interest

📦 Nasdaq short interest scraper output data

Results are available as JSON, CSV or Excel with the fields symbol, assetClass, settlement_date, settlement_date_iso, short_interest, avg_daily_volume, days_to_cover, short_interest_change, change, previous_settlement_date, url and scrapedAt. Symbols with no data return symbol, assetClass, message, url and scrapedAt. The dataset has 2 views: Overview is a compact table of the key metrics, and Full short interest details lists every field.

Sample output:

[
    {
        "symbol": "AAPL",
        "assetClass": "stocks",
        "settlement_date": "09/15/2026",
        "settlement_date_iso": "2026-09-15",
        "short_interest": 128753092,
        "avg_daily_volume": 45135477,
        "days_to_cover": 2.852592,
        "short_interest_change": -10996005,
        "change": -7.87,
        "previous_settlement_date": "08/31/2026",
        "url": "https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/aapl/short-interest",
        "scrapedAt": "2026-10-01T14:23:10.000Z"
    },
    {
        "symbol": "AAPL",
        "assetClass": "stocks",
        "settlement_date": "08/31/2026",
        "settlement_date_iso": "2026-08-31",
        "short_interest": 139749097,
        "avg_daily_volume": 39537335,
        "days_to_cover": 3.534611,
        "short_interest_change": 23421344,
        "change": 20.13,
        "previous_settlement_date": "08/14/2026",
        "url": "https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/aapl/short-interest",
        "scrapedAt": "2026-10-01T14:23:10.000Z"
    }
]

🐍 How to scrape Nasdaq short interest with Python, JavaScript or the API

Run the actor programmatically with the official Apify clients. Replace <YOUR_API_TOKEN> with the token from your Apify Console.

Python (pip install apify-client):

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

run = client.actor("<username>/nasdaq-short-interest-scraper").call(run_input={
    "symbols": ["AAPL", "MSFT"],
    "maxItems": 5,
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

JavaScript (npm install apify-client):

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' });

const run = await client.actor('<username>/nasdaq-short-interest-scraper').call({
    symbols: ['AAPL', 'MSFT'],
    maxItems: 5,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

cURL:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/<username>~nasdaq-short-interest-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_API_TOKEN>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"symbols": ["AAPL", "MSFT"], "maxItems": 5}'

💡 What you can use Nasdaq short interest data for

• Screening for heavily shorted stocks and squeeze candidates
• Tracking how short interest trends ahead of earnings
• Comparing days to cover across a watchlist
• Feeding short interest into quant models and dashboards
• Monitoring ETF short positioning over time

Traders, quantitative analysts, fintech builders and financial researchers typically use this data.

⚠️ Limitations & known issues

• Nasdaq-listed only — Nasdaq publishes short interest for Nasdaq-listed securities only. NYSE-listed tickers such as SPY return a "not available" row.
• 12-month window — Nasdaq only provides the last 12 months of short interest data, which is at most 24 settlements per symbol. Older history is not available from this source.
• Semi-monthly data — short interest is reported twice a month, so it is not a real-time signal.

❓ Frequently asked questions

Can I scrape Nasdaq legally?

The actor only collects data that is already publicly visible on nasdaq.com — no login, paywall, or private content is accessed. Scraping publicly available data is generally considered lawful (see hiQ Labs v. LinkedIn), but you are responsible for complying with Nasdaq's Terms of Service and applicable laws.

Why does my ticker return "Short interest is not available"?

Nasdaq only publishes short interest for Nasdaq-listed securities. NYSE and other exchange-listed tickers, including many ETFs, have no data.

How many settlements can I get per symbol?

Up to 24, which is the 12 months of semi-monthly reports Nasdaq provides. Nasdaq does not offer older history. Set Max settlements per symbol to 0 to return everything available.

Do I need a proxy to scrape nasdaq.com?

No. The actor works without a proxy by default. You can enable one in the Proxy configuration field if you run into blocks.

How do I scrape Nasdaq short interest with Python?

Use the Apify client shown above: call the actor with a list of symbols and iterate over the dataset items.

Can I run this Nasdaq scraper on a schedule?

Yes. Use Apify Schedules to run it after each bi-monthly settlement release. Set a Cache project name and each scheduled run returns only the settlement dates you have not collected yet.

What output formats are supported?

JSON, CSV, Excel, XML and RSS, either from the Output tab or through the Apify API.

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💬 Support & contact

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