10 Most Shorted Nasdaq Stocks List Still Topped by Sirius XM

The top six most shorted Nasdaq stocks still had more than 90,000 shares short at the end of the period.

The number of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short decreased by around 5.84 million to more than 145.97 million late in the month. That was 6.0% of the total float and the lowest level of short interest in the past year. At the current average daily volume, it would still take nearly eight days to cover all short positions. The company posted record earnings earlier in February. Short sellers watched the share price rise only marginally during the two weeks between settlement dates. Shares closed Tuesday at $3.87, in a 52-week range of $2.98 to $4.04.

A 1.2% rise in short interest brought Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) to more than 133.32 million shares short and was enough to lift the tech giant to the second spot on the list by the end of the period. That totaled 2.8% of the company’s float. The days to cover remained almost six. UBS included Intel as a top pick in semiconductors during the period. Intel shares lost less than 3% in the short interest period, while the S&P 500 was up fractionally. The stock is now down more than 12% year-to-date and closed most recently at $31.73. Shares have traded between $24.40 and $37.90 in the past year.

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The short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) dropped 4.8% from the previous period to around 125.93 million shares, or 12.7% of the telecom’s float. That was the smallest number of shares short in at least a year. The days to cover rose from about five to more than 10, as the average daily volume settled from the spike in the previous period. Frontier announced management changes during the short interest period, and shares retreated more than 4%. They have fallen more than 8% more since. Shares closed Tuesday at $7.32, in a 52-week range of $4.67 to $8.46.

The number of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) shares short slipped by 1.0% in a period. The almost 98.785 million shares short as of February 27 represented 4.6% of the float. That was the lowest level of short interest since last September. It would take about seven days to cover all short positions. Comcast’s “50 Shades of Grey” was a hit in February. The stock declined by more than 2% but recovered in the short interest period, and it is up less than 3% since the beginning of the year. Shares closed Tuesday at $58.87 and have traded between $47.74 and $59.89 in the past year.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had more than 93.91 million shares short by the end of the month, down about 10% from the previous settlement date. The most recent reading totaled 14.9% of the company’s float, and the days to cover rose to more than 11. AMD recently has been seen as a possible buyout candidate, and the share price ended the two weeks marginally lower. The stock closed at $2.93 Tuesday, or up about 9% year-to-date. The 52-week range is $2.14 to $4.80.

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Rounding out the top 10 were MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD), BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY), Windstream Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: WIN), Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) and Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT). Of these, Windstream and Applied Materials both saw a rise in 7% or more in the number of shares short.