Between the May 15 and May 29 settlement dates, Sirius XM was dethroned as the most heavily shorted stock traded on the Nasdaq. A surge in short interest pushed Frontier Communications to the top of the list. Short sellers also moved notably on Intel and Groupon during the period, while shying away from MannKind, after its run up in short interest since the beginning of the year.
Note that the five most shorted Nasdaq stocks all had more than 110,000 shares short by the middle of the month.
After mostly declining since the beginning of the year, the short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) jumped 32.6% from the previous period to about 160.30 million shares, or 16.1% of the telecom’s float. That was the greatest number of shares short since last July. The days to cover dropped to less than three, on the highest daily volume in more than a year. We noted recently that Frontier’s super-high dividend yield seemed safe. The stock ended the short interest period around 5% lower, compared to a less than 2% decline for the Nasdaq. Frontier is down about 24% year to date. Shares closed Wednesday at $5.07, within a 52-week trading range of $4.86 to $8.46.
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After tumbling about 10% in the previous period, the number of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short slipped by less than 125,000 to about 139.79 million early this month. That was 6.1% of the total float. At the current average daily volume, it would still take less than seven days to cover all short positions. Sirius announced during the period that it would broadcast the U.S. Open. Short sellers watched the share price pull back almost 2% during the two weeks between settlement dates, but it is now up almost 9% year to date. Shares closed Wednesday at $3.81, in a 52-week trading range of $3.14 to $4.04.
A 10.5% bump in short interest brought Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) to almost 128.27 million shares short at the end of the period. That totaled 2.7% of the company’s float. The number of shares short has been growing since mid-April. The days to cover has slipped to less than four, though. Canaccord Genuity likes Intel’s prospects. Shares pulled back more than 9% in the short interest period. The stock is now down about 12% year to date and closed most recently at $31.91. Shares have traded between $29.31 and $37.90 in the past year.
MannKind Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MNKD) short interest, at more than 120.42 million shares as of June 15, was down 8.2% from the previous period. Note that it was 47% of the total float, as well as the second highest short interest in at least a year. The days to cover dropped from more than 12 to about eight. In early June, it looked like MannKind had become a tug-o-war stock. Shares ended Wednesday at $5.85, in a 52-week range of $3.46 to $11.48. The stock saw a share price increase of more than 40% in early June, though it gave up much of that gain by the end of the two-week short-interest period.
By the middle of the month, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had around 116.75 million shares short, down 1.1% from the end of May. The most recent reading totaled 18.5% of the company’s float. The days to cover rose to more than 14 as the average daily volume shrank to the lowest level so far this year. One analyst recently called for AMD stock to double, though others have been cautious. The share price ended the two weeks more than 3% lower than where it began, though it has gained more than 12% since. The stock closed at $2.62 on Wednesday, and the 52-week range is $2.14 to $4.80.
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BlackBerry Ltd.’s (NASDAQ: BBRY) short interest, at more than 90.90 million shares as of the middle of June, was 4.4% higher than in the previous period, and 18.5% of the total float. That was the greatest number of shares short since mid-April. It would still take more than 13 days to cover all short positions. Expectations were low ahead of BlackBerry’s recent earnings report. Shares closed Wednesday at $8.83, in a 52-week range of $8.59 to $12.63. They grew marginally in the two-week period, but the stock is now down more than 19% year to date.
Rounding out the top 10 were Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX), Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU). Groupon added more than 7 million shares to its short count, more than a 10% gain. Moves in the other three were modest.
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