Among the most heavily shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq, short sellers seemed to shift their focus from semiconductor giant Intel to smaller rival AMD between the April 15 and April 30 settlement dates. Also, a modest rise in short interest was enough to keep Sirius XM at the top of the list during the period.

Note that the five most shorted Nasdaq stocks all had more than 100,000 shares short at the end of the month.

The number of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short increased by nearly 7.9 million to about 149.39 million late in the month. That was 6.5% of the total float, as well as the highest level of short interest since mid-February. At the current average daily volume, it would still take less than six days to cover all short positions. Sirius posted disappointing first-quarter results during the period. Short sellers watched the share price rise only about 1% during the two weeks between settlement dates. Shares closed Monday at $3.83, in a 52-week trading range of $3.09 to $4.04.

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The short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) dropped marginally from the previous period to around 111.02 million shares, or 11.2% of the telecom’s float. That was the smallest number of shares short in the past year. The days to cover rose to more than 17, the highest it has been since January. During the short interest period, the stock retreated about 5.7%, and it is down more than 15% since. Shares closed Monday at $5.84 and have a 52-week trading range of $5.44 to $8.46.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had more than 108.50 million shares short by the end of the month, up 8.5% from the previous settlement date. The most recent reading totaled 17.2% of the company’s float, and the days to cover was less the five, compared to more than 11 in the previous period. Analysts were not encouraged by AMD’s most recent quarterly report. The share price ended the two weeks more than 14% lower than where it began, though it has reclaimed almost 2% since. The stock closed at $2.32 on Monday, and the 52-week range is $2.14 to $4.80.

A 5.9% drop in short interest brought Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) to around 108.47 million shares short. That totaled 2.3% of the company’s float and was the lowest number of shares short in at least a year. The days to cover rose to more than four. In the period, Jefferies liked Intel for its free cash flow yield. Shares gained 2.5% in the short interest period, while the Nasdaq was up only fractionally. The stock is now down about 10% year-to-date and closed most recently at $32.69. Shares have traded between $25.74 and $37.90 in the past year.

MannKind Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MNKD) short interest, at about 100.93 million shares as of April 30, was up 4.2% from the previous period. Note that it was 39.5% of the total float, as well as the highest short interest in at least a year. The days to cover dropped from more than 29 to around 20. In April, MannKind made our list of cheap stocks with big upside. Shares ended Monday at $3.63, in a 52-week range of $3.51 to $11.48. The stock saw a share price decline of 11.7% in the two-week short-interest period.

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Rounding out the top 10 were Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY), Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) and Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA). Microsoft saw a double-digit percentage rise, though that was overshadowed by the approximately 275% surge in number of shares short in Express Scripts. Otherwise, short sellers retreated handily from the other three here.

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