Between the September 15 and September 30 settlement dates, short interest in many of the most heavily shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq dwindled somewhat. The exceptions were MannKind, which had about the same number of shares short at the beginning and end of the period, and Advanced Micro Devices, which saw a very modest bump in short interest.

Note that the five most shorted Nasdaq stocks all had more than 110,000 shares short by the end of the month.

After rising about 2% or so in the previous period, the short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) took back that gain to come in at 168.75 million shares, or 14.5% of the telecom’s float, by the end of September. The days to cover rose to eight as the average daily volume dwindled. Frontier was a Jefferies value pick mid-month, but shares ended the short interest period nearly 11% lower, compared to a more than 5% decline for the Nasdaq. The share price now is down more than 23% year to date. The stock closed Friday at $5.18, within a 52-week trading range of $4.19 to $8.46.

Reclaiming much of a 2% gain in the previous period, the number of Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short shrank to around 153.03 million late in the month. That was 7.0% of the total float. At the current average daily volume, it would take a little more than six days to cover all short positions. At least one analyst started coverage on Sirius in the period. The share price ended the two-week period more than 3% lower, but it has recovered much of that decline since. Shares ended Friday at $3.85, in a 52-week trading range of $3.14 to $4.04.

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By the end of the month, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had around 133.64 million shares short, which was up from 131.36 million on the prior settlement date. The most recent reading totaled 21.1% of the company’s float. The days to cover rose to more than 17 as the average daily volume fell to a year to date low. The struggling company recently announced layoffs. The share price finished the two weeks down more than 7%, though at one point it was up more than 3%. The stock ended last week at $1.96 per share, and the 52-week range is $1.61 to $3.37.

MannKind Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MNKD) short interest, at around 126.84 million shares as of September 30, was about the same as on the prior two settlement dates. Note that was almost half, 48.7%, of the total float. It would take more than 25 days to cover all short positions. Peak short interest year to date was more than 131 million shares, back in May. Mannkind also has been reducing its headcount. Short sellers watched the share price pull back almost 13% in late September. It is now down more than 41% year to date at $3.05. Shares have changed hands between $2.98 and $7.88 in the past year.

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More than 116.94 million Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) shares were sold short as of the most recent settlement date. That was more than 1% fewer than at the start of the period, and it totaled 2.5% of the company’s float. The days to cover remained less than four, even though the average daily volume increased somewhat. Intel was a select Deutsche Bank pick in August, and it ended the two-week period less than 2% higher, despite being down nearly 6% at one point. Since that time, the stock has risen more than 8%, and it closed most recently at $32.14. Shares have traded between $24.87 and $37.90 in the past year.

Continuing their decline since mid-July, the number of BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) shares short fell more than 10% in the most recent period to almost 87.75 million shares. That was still 16.8% of the total float, and it would take a little more than 10 days to cover all short positions. The days to cover was 21 in mid-August, on a year-to-date low average daily volume. BlackBerry recently posted a bigger than expected net loss, and short sellers watched the stock tumble more than 18% during the two weeks. Shares closed last Friday at $7.41, in a 52-week range of $5.96 to $12.63.

Rounding out the top 10 were Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT). Of these, only Mattel saw an increase in the number of shares short, lifting it into the top 10 and bumping Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU). We discussed the drop in Microsoft short interest in more detail in another post.

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