The nearly eight-year old bull market marches on, with markets recently hitting all-time highs. And how are short sellers reacting? Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq, overall those short sellers are enthusiastic. Moves in those shorted stocks were mostly positive between the January 31 and February 15 settlement dates.
That was most notable with Intel, which saw a double-digit percentage gain in the number of its shares sold short. Bucking the trend was the king of the hill, Sirius XM, with a modest decline in its short interest.
Note that now four Nasdaq stocks had more than 100 million shares short, as of the middle of the month. However, two of them remain very far ahead of the pack.
Sirius XM
The approximately 249.35 million Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short by the end of January was more than 2% lower than on the previous settlement date, as well as the lowest level of short interest since October. Some 15.1% of the company’s float was sold short most recently. The days to cover declined from more than 13 to less than 12 as the average daily trading volume bounced back from a 52-week low.
Sirius shares hit a new high after its latest earnings report. The stock ended the short interest period more than 3% higher, most of that gain coming at the end of the two weeks. The Nasdaq also was up more than 3% between the settlement dates. The stock is currently trading more than 16% higher year to date. It closed Monday at $5.18 a share, in a 52-week range of $3.67 to $5.22.
Frontier Communications
After pulling back for three periods in a row, the number of shares short in Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) rose more than 5% to almost 231.08 million as of the most recent settlement date. That was 19.9% of the telecom’s float, as well as the 12th consecutive period with more than 200 million shares short. The days to cover dropped from more than 15 to more than 11 on rising daily average volume.
Frontier did not raise its dividend during the period, as some had speculated might happen. In the first two weeks of the month, short sellers watched the shares drop more than 7% but then recover a little to end the period to about 5% lower. The stock has recovered a bit more since then and closed most recently at $3.29. Shares have changed hands between $3.10 and $5.85 apiece in the past year.
AMD
By the middle of the month, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had more than 105.63 million shares short. That was up from more than 99.90 million on the previous settlement date. It was the fifth period in a row of rising short interest, as well as 13.6% of the company’s float. At the latest average daily volume, it still would take a little more than a day to cover all short positions.
Investors were pleased by AMD’s revenue prospects, and the February 15 share price was more than 28% higher than on the previous settlement date. It continued to climb after the period, and the stock reached a new 52-week high of $15.35 on Monday. It closed at $15.20, and the 52-week low is all the way down at $2.03.
MannKind
MannKind Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MNKD) short interest, at more than 101.61 million shares on February 15, was less than 2% higher than on the prior settlement date. That was the fourth time since last May that the number of shares short was more than 100 million, and it was 31.3% of the total float. The days to cover fell from about 29 to more than 21 during the period.
MannKind has been looking for ways to increase demand for its Afrezza. Shares ended the two weeks more than 24% lower, and they continued to retreat afterward. The stock is now almost 18% lower since the beginning of the year to $0.52. The 52-week low, hit in last November, is $0.41, and the 52-week high of $2.24 was seen almost a year ago.
Intel
More than 88.17 million Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) shares were sold short as of the most recent settlement date. Short interest jumped more than 11% during the period to total 1.9% of the company’s float. Note that the number of shares short has topped 80 million only one other time since last May. As of the middle of February, it would take more than three days to cover all short positions.
Though analysts see Intel as a strong player in the cloud space, short sellers watched the shares pull back about 4% but recover about half that loss in the last couple of days of the period. The share price recovered a bit more since to $36.51 on Monday’s close. Shares have changed hands between $29.50 and $38.45 apiece in the past 52 weeks.
Opko Health
Opko Health Inc.’s (NASDAQ: OPK) short interest of more than 74.95 million shares, as of the most recent settlement date, was up more than 1% from the previous period. And it was 22.3% of the total float, as well as the greatest number of shares short since last June. The daily average volume dropped again for the fourth period in a row, so the days to cover rose from almost 17 to more than 19.
For well more than a year, the CEO frequently has been buying batches of Opko shares. The stock closed most recently at $8.64, in a 52-week trading range of $7.99 to $12.15. The share price ended the two-week short-interest period slightly lower, though it was down more than 6% at one point. The stock it is now down around 7% since the beginning of the year.
And Others
Rounding out the top 10 were Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU). The big mover here was Groupon, with more than 12% gain and the fifth consecutive period of rising short interest. Note that the number of shares short in Micron shrank, but not by very much.
Beyond the top 10, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) all saw sharp increases in short interest as well, but not enough to lift them into the top 10 most shorted Nasdaq stocks. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) also is still lingering just outside the top 10.
In addition, the most shorted stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange included Pfizer, Sprint and Bank of America.
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