[cnxvideo id=”625451″ placement=”ros”]The Trump rally seemed to weaken as the year wound to its conclusion, while many investors and traders were out for the holidays. Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq, those short sellers who remained active also continued to be cautious. Overall, moves in those stocks were mixed and mild between the December 15 and December 30 settlement dates.
The standout was a sharp drop in the number of shares short in NVIDIA. Yet, it did not manage to slip out of the top 10 most shorted Nasdaq stocks — not yet.
Note that only two Nasdaq stocks still had more than 100 million shares short by the end of the most recent period. In fact, those two remain very far ahead of the pack.
Sirius XM
The approximately 280.05 million Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short by the end of December was less than 2% higher than on the previous settlement date, as well as the second highest level of short interest in the past year. Some 16.9% of the company’s float was sold short most recently. The days to cover surged from less than eight to almost 14 as the average daily trading volume dropped to a 52-week low.
Pandora Media reportedly was courting Sirius for a buyout. Sirius shares ended the two-week period fractionally lower, though they were up fractionally at one point. The Nasdaq was down more than 1% between the settlement dates. The stock is currently trading nearly 12% higher than six months ago. It closed Wednesday at $4.59, in a 52-week trading range of $3.29 to $4.67.
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Frontier Communications
After rising by almost 4% in the previous period, the number of shares short in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) shrank around 5% to more than 225.73 million. That was 19.4% of the telecom’s float, as well as the ninth consecutive period with more than 200 million shares short. The days to cover declined to more than nine as the average daily volume continued to increase.
Frontier’s integration with Verizon’s wireline properties continues. In the final weeks of the month, short sellers watched the shares rise more than 2%, but then drop to more than 5%, before finally settling around a 3% decline. The stock has recovered since then and closed most recently at $3.61. Shares have changed hands between $3.10 and $5.85 apiece in the past year.
MannKind
MannKind Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MNKD) short interest, at around 98.60 million shares on December 30, was more than 7% lower than on the prior settlement date. That ended three consecutive periods of rising short interest, and it was 30.6 % of the total float. The daily average volume more than doubled during the period, sending the days to cover down to about nine from more than 26 in the middle of the month.
MannKind is one of the companies reportedly looking to develop an alternative to the EpiPen. Shares ended the two weeks more than 5% higher, though they were up more than 30% at one point. The stock is still more than 44% lower than six months ago to $0.63. The 52-week low hit in November is $0.41, and the 52-week high of $2.24 was seen last March.
AMD
By the end of the month, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had more than 86.61 million shares short. That was up more than 4% from around 82.81 million on the previous settlement date, which was the second lowest level of short interest since September. Most recently, 11.1% of the company’s float was sold short. At the latest average daily volume, it still would take less than two days to cover all short positions.
AMD shares did very well in 2016, and the end-of-month share price was more than 4% higher than on the previous short interest settlement date, despite being up about 11% at one point. The stock reached a new 52-week high of $12.42 during the period, but it closed most recently at $11.20. The 52-week low is $1.75.
Intel
More than 79.38 million Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) shares were sold short as of the most recent settlement date. Short interest grew about 1% during the period to total 1.7% of the company’s float. Note that the number of shares short has topped 80 million only once since May. As of the end of December, it would take about five days to cover all short positions.
The stock looked like a dark horse to be one of the 2017 Dogs of the Dow, and its share price ended the two weeks down more than 1% from on the previous settlement date. It now is more than 5% higher than six months ago, and the stock closed at $36.95 on Wednesday. Shares have changed hands between $27.68 and $38.36 in the past 52 weeks.
Opko Health
Opko Health Inc.’s (NASDAQ: OPK) short interest of more than 67.39 million shares, as of the most recent settlement date, was down more than 2% from the previous period. That was 20.01% of the total float, but the smallest number of shares short since last June. The daily average volume, though, ended the year at a six-month high, with the days to cover dropping from about 14 to about nine.
The CEO frequently has been buying batches of Opko shares for well more than a year. The stock closed most recently at $9.23, in a 52-week range of $7.12 to $12.15. The share price ended the two-week short-interest period almost 22% lower, most of that drop on the last trading day of the year due to news of disappointing trial results.
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And Others
Rounding out the top 10 were Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). The only shorts gainer here was Novavax, up more than 6%, while NVIDIA’s more than 23% drop allowed it to drop from sixth place to ninth.
Note that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) saw marginal gains in their short interest to end the year, but not enough to lift them into the top 10.
The most shorted NYSE stocks include Sprint, Bank of America and Chesapeake Energy.
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