The Trump rally sputtered as the new year got under way, leaving the Dow Jones Industrial Average short of the 20,000 milestone. Investors, like everyone else, anticipated the start of a new White House regime, and judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq, again those short sellers who remained active also continued to be cautious. Overall, moves in those stocks were mixed and mild between the December 30 and January 13 settlement dates.
The notable exception was the sharp drop in the number of shares short in NVIDIA for the second period in a row. Microsoft’s short interest also declined sharply, and both stocks slipped out of the top 10 most shorted Nasdaq stocks.
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 more than 265.87 million Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short by the middle of January was around 5% lower than on the previous settlement date, as well as the lowest level of short interest since October. Some 16.1% of the company’s float was sold short most recently. The days to cover dropped from almost 14 to around nine as the average daily trading volume picked up.
Sirius said during the period that it had exceeded it subscriber guidance for 2016. Its shares ended the two-week period more than 3% higher, most of that gain coming in the first few days of the year. The Nasdaq was up about the same amount between the settlement dates. The stock is currently trading more than 7% higher than six months ago. It closed Wednesday at $4.68 a share, after reaching a new 52-week high of $4.70 earlier in the day. The 52-week low is $3.29.
Frontier Communications
After pulling back around 5% in the previous period, the number of shares short in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) slipped another 1% or so to more than 223.06 million. That was 19.2% of the telecom’s float, as well as the 10th consecutive period with more than 200 million shares short. The days to cover was about nine as the average daily volume increased again.
After a dismal 2016, Frontier started off the year strong. In the first two weeks of the month, short sellers watched the shares rise nearly 11% but then pull back and end the period less than 5% higher. The stock has retreated a little more since then and closed most recently at $3.44. Shares have changed hands between $3.10 and $5.85 apiece in the past year.
MannKind
MannKind Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MNKD) short interest, at more than 97.91 million shares on January 13, was barely lower than on the prior settlement date. That was the lowest level of short interest since October, and it was 30.4% of the total float. The daily average volume plunged during the period, pushing the days to cover up from about nine from near 21.
MannKind is one of the companies looking to develop an alternative to the EpiPen. Shares ended the two weeks more than 7% higher, despite falling into the red a couple of times in that time. The stock is still more than 31% lower than six months ago to $0.68. 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 middle of the month, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had more than 88.62 million shares short. That was up from more than 86.61 million on the previous settlement date. Also it was the third period in a row of rising short interest, as well as 11.4% of the company’s float. At the latest average daily volume, it still would take about two days to cover all short positions.
AMD shares did very well in 2016, but the mid-month share price was more than 6% lower than on the previous settlement date, most of that decline coming at the end of the period. The stock reached a new 52-week high of $12.42 back in December, but it closed most recently at $10.35. The 52-week low is all the way down at $1.81.
Intel
Almost 76.05 million Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) shares were sold short as of the most recent settlement date. Short interest shrank more than 4% during the period to total 1.6% of the company’s float. Note that the number of shares short has topped 80 million only once since last May. As of the mid-January, it would take about four days to cover all short positions.
Intel is expected to help lift the Dow this year, though its share price ended the two weeks up less than 2% from on the previous settlement date. It now is more than 7% higher than six months ago, having closed at $37.80 on Wednesday. Shares have changed hands between $27.68 and $38.36 apiece in the past 52 weeks.
Opko Health
Opko Health Inc.’s (NASDAQ: OPK) short interest of around 69.74 million shares, as of the most recent settlement date, was up more than 3% from the previous period. And it was 20.8% of the total float, as well as the third period in a row at less than 70 million. The daily average volume dropped handily early this month, so the days to cover rose to about 14 from less than nine.
The CEO frequently has been buying batches of Opko shares for well more than a year. The stock closed most recently at $8.58, in a 52-week trading range of $7.42 to $12.15. The share price ended the two-week short-interest period less than 2% lower, but it is now down more than 5% since the beginning of the year and about 14% in the past six months.
And Others
Rounding out the top 10 were Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). Micron led the short interest gains here, while Yahoo saw a modest decline in the number of its shares short.
At NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), the short interest retreated around 33% and 14%, respectively, which allowed BlackBerry and Yahoo to rise onto top 10 most shorted Nasdaq stocks list. Just outside the top 10 sit Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).
In addition, check out the most shorted NYSE stocks, which included Sprint, Alibaba and Bank of America.
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