The 5 Most Shorted Stocks on the Nasdaq

A 9.2% drop in short interest did not keep Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) from rising to the top spot on the list. Some 164.75 million shares were short at the end of the period. That totaled 3.4% of the company’s float, and it was the second consecutive period of falling short interest. The days to cover fell to about five. Intel offered a surprising dividend hike during the period, and short sellers watched the share price rise more than 9% in the two-week period. Shares ended Tuesday at $36.89, in a 52-week range of $23.50 to $37.90, and up more than 42% year-to-date.

The number of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short decreased by about 83.78 million to almost 163.50 million, which was 7.0% of the float. That was the lowest level of short interest in more than a year, though it would still take more than seven days to cover all short positions. Analysts expect Sirius to post a quarterly profit of pennies per share again this period and the next. The stock’s price rose more than 2% in the two-week period but has retreated since. Shares closed at $3.49 on Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $2.98 to $3.89.

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In the period when we identified it as one of the best stocks of 2014, the short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) rose a just bit from the previous period to almost 152.76 million shares, or 15.4% of the telecom’s float. That was the highest number of shares short since July. It would take more than 19 days to cover all short positions. Shares rose less than 2% in the two weeks to November 30, but the share price has dropped about 5% since. Shares closed at $6.60, in a 52-week range of $4.39 to $7.24.

BlackBerry Ltd.’s (NASDAQ: BBRY) short interest, at more than 111.37 million shares as of month’s end, was 12.4% higher than in the previous period. And the number of shares short represents 22.7% of the total float. The days to cover rose from almost six to more than nine. Morgan Stanley downgraded BlackBerry stock during the period. Shares closed Tuesday at $10.47, in a 52-week range of $5.44 to $12.54, and posted a share price decline of more than 8% for the two-week short-interest period.

The number of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) shares short shrank 8.6%, in a period when it and rivals continued to bleed subscribers. The more than 105.61 million shares short at the end of the month represent 4.9% of the float, the fourth period in a row of short interest of more than 100 million shares. It would take more than eight days to cover all short positions. The stock saw a more than 4% gain in the two-week period and closed at $56.19 Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $47.74 to $57.49. It is up about 8% year-to-date.

Rounding out the top 10 were Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN), MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS). The final two stocks in this set saw short interest rise 5% or less in the period, but that was enough to bring Staples into the top 10.

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