There was no change in the ranking of the most heavily shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq in early February, even though Frontier Communications and Advanced Micro Devices both saw significant drops in the number of shares short between the January 30 and February 13 settlement dates. Note that the top four all still had more than 100,000 shares short at the end of the period.
The number of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short increased by around 22.52 million to more than 151.80 million early in the month. That was 6.5% of the total float, and still less than half the 52-week peak short interest from last June. At the current average daily volume, it would still take about five days to cover all short positions. The company posted record earnings in early February. Short sellers watched the share price rise nearly 10% at one point during the two weeks between settlement dates. Shares closed Wednesday at $3.88, in a 52-week range of $2.98 to $3.93.
The short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) dropped 10% from the previous period to around 132.31 million shares, or 13.3% of the telecom’s float. That was the smallest number of shares short in the past year. The days to cover plunged from 21 to about five as the average daily volume spiked to the most in at least a year. Frontier caught an upgrade from Citigroup during the short interest period, and shares soared more than 24%, though they have pulled back more than 5% since. Shares closed Wednesday at $7.95, in a 52-week range of $4.67 to $8.46.
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A 3.3% rise in short interest brought Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) to more than 131.69 million shares short at the end of the period. That totaled 2.7% of the company’s float, and it ended sixth straight periods of falling short interest. The days to cover increased to almost six. The stock of this chip giant remains on the UBS Dividend Ruler list. Intel shares gained about 4%, in the short interest period, compared to about 5% for the S&P 500. The stock is now down about more than 6% year-to-date and closed most recently at $33.94. Shares have traded between $24.30 and $37.90 in the past year.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had more than 104.17 million shares short by mid-month, down 17.8% from the previous settlement date. The most recent reading totaled 16.5% of the company’s float, and the days to cover was more than four. AMD has recently been seen as a possible buyout candidate, and the share price ended the two weeks more than 22% higher. The stock closed at $3.10 Wednesday, or up about 16% year-to-date. The 52-week range is $2.14 to $4.80.
The number of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) shares short slipped by about 1.3% in a period. The about 99.76 million shares short as of February 13 represented 4.6% of the float. That was the first period of short interest of less than 100 million shares since last September. It would take about seven days to cover all short positions. There has been much speculation about the approach the FCC will take to net neutrality. The stock increased almost 12% in the short interest period, but it is only almost 3% higher since the beginning of the year. Shares closed Wednesday at $59.62 and have traded between $47.74 and $59.89 in the past year.
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Rounding out the top 10 were BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY), MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), Windstream Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: WIN) and Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN). Of these, only MannKind and Windstream saw rising short interest in this period.
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