The 6 Most Shorted Nasdaq Stocks: Apple Roller-Coaster Continues

By Trey Thoelcke Updated Jan 13, 3:41PM EST · Published Dec 28, 8:25AM EST

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The 6 Most Shorted Nasdaq Stocks: Apple Roller-Coaster Continues — © Thinkstock

After piling on Apple in the previous period, short sellers appeared to change their minds in the heart of the holiday shopping season. Its short interest plunged again between the November 30 and December 15 settlement dates, while moves in the rest of the most heavily shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq were modest and mostly positive.

Note that the four most shorted Nasdaq stocks all had more than 100,000 shares short by the middle of the month.

After rising around 4% in the previous period, the short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) added more than 4% more to come in at around 170.65 million shares by mid-December. That was 14.7% of the telecom’s float. The days to cover dropped to less than 13 as the average daily volume increased. Frontier received final approval of its Verizon asset purchase in December, and shares ended the short interest period more than 9% lower. That compared to a less than 3% drop for the Nasdaq. The share price is down more than 26% year to date. The stock closed most recently at $4.86, within a 52-week trading range of $4.19 to $8.46.
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The nearly 155.70 million Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short in the middle of the month was up more than 4% from the previous settlement date. That was 7.6% of the company’s float. The year-to-date peak short interest of more than 160 million was back in August. At the current average daily volume, it would take more than five days to cover all short positions. Sirius signed a new deal with Howard Stern in early December. The share price ended the two-week period less than 2% lower than where it began, despite being down more than 4% at one point. Shares ended Thursday at $4.08, in a 52-week range of $3.31 to $4.20.
By the middle of the month, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had more than 116.61 million shares short, which was up from 113.25 million two-weeks earlier. The most recent reading totaled 18.1% of the company’s float. The days to cover slipped to around 15 as the average daily volume continued to grow. AMD is expected to benefit from advances in virtual reality. The share price finished the two-week period up less than 4%, but it has surged around 17% in the past week. The stock closed most recently at $2.92, and the 52-week range is $1.61 to $3.37.

MannKind Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MNKD) short interest, at around 111.52 million shares as of December 15, was up about 3% from the prior settlement date, when the fewest shares were short since April. The most recent reading was 43.6% of the total float, and the days to cover was about 19. Short sellers watched the share price tumble more than 31% in early December. It is now down more than 70% year to date to $1.53, and hit a multiyear low of $1.38 recently. The 52-week high of $7.88 was from last February.

More than 95.22 million Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) shares were sold short as of the most recent settlement date. That was more than 7% higher than at the start of the period, it totaled 2.0% of the company’s float and it was the third period in a row of short interest of less than 100 million. It would take more than four days to cover all short positions. Intel is a top dividend pick at Merrill Lynch, but it ended the two-week period less than 2% higher. Shares closed most recently at $34.98, down less than 3% year to date. The stock has traded between $24.87 and $37.74 per share in the past year.
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BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) short interest has lingered at less than 80 million since September, and the latest reading landed at more than 77.87 million, after slipping about 1% in early December. That was 18.1% of the company’s total float, and it would take about 11 days to cover all short positions, down from more than 16 in the previous period. BlackBerry posted better than expected quarterly results during the period, and short sellers watched the stock rise more than 4% but give up almost all that gain during the two weeks. Shares ended last week at $9.10, 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), Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) and Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL). As mentioned, the big mover here was Apple, with a more than 31% drop in the number of its shares held short. But short interest in Mattel shrank by 10% as well. And note that if short sellers continue to move on Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), it may show up among the top 10 shorted Nasdaq stocks before long.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.