The 6 Most Shorted Nasdaq Stocks: AMD Rises to the Top

Investing

Published: August 12, 2015 6:31 am

Last Updated: August 12, 2015 7:00 am

Between the July 15 and July 31 settlement dates, a modest increase in short interest was enough for AMD to rise to the top of the list of the most heavily shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq. Sirius XM, also still on the list, saw a bigger rise, while the most significant decline was in Intel shares short.

Note that the six most shorted Nasdaq stocks all had more than 100,000 shares short by the end of June.

By the end of the month, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had more than 157.65 million shares short, up nearly 3% from mid-July. The most recent reading totaled 24.9% of the company’s float. The days to cover jumped to more than nine as the average daily volume cooled from recent highs. We recently looked at how different AMD had become from rival Intel. The share price ended the two weeks more than 4% lower than where it began, though at one point it was up more than 20%. The stock closed at $1.90 on Tuesday, and the 52-week trading range is $1.61 to $4.32.

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After dropping for the second period in a row, the short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) came in at around 156.59 million shares, or 13.7% of the telecom’s float, at the end of July. That was the lowest number of shares short since the end of May. The days to cover slipped to less than seven. Jefferies saw Frontier as a value stock during the period, and it ended the short interest period about 2% lower, compared to a fractional decline for the Nasdaq. The share price is about 20% lower year to date. The stock closed Tuesday at $5.34, within a 52-week trading range of $4.19 to $8.46.

After being relatively stable since the end of May, the number of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short swelled more than 8% to almost 153.67 million late last month. That was 7.0% of the total float. At the current average daily volume, it would take a little more than four days to cover all short positions. Sirius had record subscriber additions in the most recent quarter. Short sellers watched the share price rise almost 3% during the two weeks between settlement dates, but it is now up more than 11% year to date. Shares ended the day at $3.90, in a 52-week trading range of $3.14 to $4.04.
A more than 9% drop in short interest brought Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) to more than 127.29 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 remains more than three. Jefferies also had Intel as a value pick during the period. Shares jumped more than 7% early in the short interest period but ended down more than 2%. The stock is now about 20% lower year to date and closed most recently at $28.97. Shares have traded between $27.62 and $37.90 in the past year.

MannKind Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MNKD) short interest, at around 116.06 million shares as of July 31, was up about 3% from the previous period. Note that was 45.3% of the total float, and the days to cover fell from more than 25 to about 19. Peak short interest year to date was more than 131 million shares, back in May. MannKind’s inhaled insulin drug Afrezza has moved out of clinical development into the commercial market. Shares ended Tuesday at $4.16, in a 52-week range of $3.46 to $8.29. The stock saw a share price decrease of more than 24% in late July, and it has pulled back an additional 2% or so since.

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BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) saw little change in the number of shares short over the two-week period. The more than 105.00 million shares as of July 31 were 19.8% of the total float, as well as the third period in a row above 100,000. It would take about 15 days to cover all short positions, the greatest number in the past year. Shares got a bump late in the period from a soft upgrade, helping the stock recover from a previous 10% decline. BlackBerry closed Tuesday at $7.56, in a 52-week range of $7.15 to $12.63. The stock is now down about 31% year to date.

Rounding out the top 10 were Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN), Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Of these, only Groupon had rising short interest during the period.

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