Between the December 15 and December 31 settlement dates, Intel was the most significant mover among the most heavily shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq. Short sellers fled as the semiconductor giant completed a merger. The number of shares short in Apple also fell somewhat, but not enough for it to drop out of the top 10.
Note that the four most shorted Nasdaq stocks all had more than 120,000 shares short by the end of the period.
Frontier Communications
After rising around 4% in each of the past two periods, the short interest in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) retreated more than 2% to come in at around 166.32 million shares by year’s end. That was 14.3% of the telecom’s float. The days to cover dropped to less than 12 as the average daily volume increased. Shares ended the short interest period about 1% lower; that was before the recently announced board shake-up. That pullback compared to a fractional drop for the Nasdaq. The share price is down more than 6% year to date. The stock closed most recently at $4.38, within a 52-week trading range of $4.19 to $8.46.
Sirius XM
The more than 147.38 million Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short at the end of December was down more than 5% from the previous settlement date. That was 7.2% of the company’s float. Last year’s peak short interest of more than 160 million was back in August. At the current average daily volume, it would take more than six days to cover all short positions. Sirius signed a critical new deal with Howard Stern in December. The share price ended the two-week period about where it began, despite being down almost 3% at one point. The stock has declined almost 7% since. Shares ended Tuesday at $3.79, in a 52-week range of $3.31 to $4.20.
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MannKind
MannKind Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MNKD) short interest, at nearly 120.72 million shares as of December 31, was up more than 8% from the prior settlement date to the greatest number of shares short since October. The most recent reading was 43.9% of the total float, and the days to cover jumped to about 25. The stock rose more than 13% but gave up all of that gain in late December, but that was before the termination of MannKind’s insulin inhaler project with Sanofi-Aventis. Shares are now down about 47% year to date to $0.77, and they hit a multiyear low of $0.46 recently. The 52-week high of $7.88 was seen last February.
AMD
By the end of the month, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had almost 120.43 million shares short, which was up from 116.61 million two weeks earlier. The most recent reading totaled 18.7% of the company’s float. The days to cover slipped to less than eight as the average daily volume continued to grow. AMD is expected to benefit from advances in virtual reality. Short sellers watched the share price surge more than 20% in the two-week period, but retreat more than 16 percent since. The stock closed most recently at $2.39, within a 52-week range of $1.61 to $3.37.
Intel
More than 82.06 million Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) shares were sold short as of the most recent settlement date. That was almost 14% lower than at the start of the period, it totaled 1.7% of the company’s float and it was the lowest level of short interest in at least a year. It would take more than four days to cover all short positions. Intel completed its acquisition of Altera during the period, but it ended the two weeks more than 2% lower. Shares closed most recently at $32.68, down around 5% year to date. The stock has changed hands between $24.87 and $37.49 per share in the past year.
Groupon
Groupon Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GRPN) short interest has grown for four straight periods, and the latest reading landed at more than 75.87 million, the greatest number of shares short since September. That was 17.6% of the company’s total float, and it would take more than 11 days to cover all short positions, a six-month high. Groupon lost more than 61% of its value in 2015, and short sellers watched the stock rise more than 7% then give it all up during the most recent short interest period. Shares closed Tuesday at $2.63, down more than 14% year to date. The 52-week range is $2.54 to $8.37.
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Rounding out the top 10 were BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) and Mylan Inc. (NASDAQ: MYL). As mentioned, Apple saw the largest drop in short interest among these four, more than 8%. Micron Technology was the only one here that saw the number of its shares swell as the year came to a close.
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