The 5 Most Shorted Nasdaq Stocks in Early January

The short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) slipped a bit from the previous period to more than 150.68 million shares, or 15.2% of the telecom’s float. That was the smallest number of shares short since September. It would take more than 19 days to cover all short positions. Merrill Lynch upgraded Frontier during the period, citing its market share growth potential and stable dividend. Short sellers watched shares fall more than 3% then recover in the two-week period. Shares closed Tuesday at $6.77, in a 52-week range of $4.40 to $7.24.

The number of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short decreased by about 4.28 million to almost 148.90 million early in the month. That was 6.4% of the total float, the lowest level of short interest in at least a year. At the current average daily volume, it would still take about three days to cover all short positions. The company said in the period that it added more subscribers in 2014 than it expected. The stock’s price barely rose in the first two weeks of January, and it has gained about 3% since. Shares closed Tuesday at $3.64, in a 52-week range of $2.98 to $3.67.

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A more than 1% decline in short interest brought Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) to about 133.58 million shares short at the end of the period. That totaled 2.8% of the company’s float, and it was the fifth consecutive period of falling short interest. The days to cover slipped to less than five. During the period, Intel beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates, due in part to reinvigorated PC demand. In the short interest period, Intel shares pulled back marginally, and they have dropped more than 5% since. Shares closed at $34.19, in a 52-week range of $23.50 to $37.90.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had more than 132.65 million shares short by the middle of the month, compared to 128.18 million at the end of last year, when it traded on the NYSE. The most recent reading totaled 21.1% of the company’s float, and the days to cover was about 11. Soft earnings pushed the stock to a new 52-week low during the period, and the share price fell more than 5% during the two weeks. However, the stock has gained about 10% since and closed at $2.70 Tuesday. Its 52-week trading range is $2.14 to $4.80.

BlackBerry Ltd.’s (NASDAQ: BBRY) short interest, at more than 125.36 million shares as of the middle of the month, was more than 5.7% higher than in the previous period. That was the greatest number of shares short in the past year, and a whopping 25.6% of the total float. The days to cover dropped from more than eight to about six. Recently rumors have surfaced that Samsung would like to buy out BlackBerry. Shares closed Tuesday at $10.56, in a 52-week range of $7.01 to $12.63. Despite a spike on the rumors, shares ended the two-week period about 8% lower, and they are now down about 3% year-to-date.

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Rounding out the top 10 were Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) and MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD), which saw short interest swell, and Windstream Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: WIN), in which short interest shrank in the first two weeks of the year.