Did investors sell in May and go away, even in the face of increasing fears of trade wars with China and U.S. allies, not to mention the specter of rising interest rates? The Nasdaq, the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 did all lose some ground last month, as there were few earnings reports to help buoy them. That will soon change, for better or worse.
Judging by the most shorted stocks traded on the Nasdaq between the June 15 and June 29 settlement dates, those sellers were focused on a few of favorites. Otherwise moves among these stocks were mostly marginal and negative.
Note that still just two Nasdaq stocks had more than 100 million shares short as of the most recent settlement date.
Sirius XM
The approximately 215.40 million Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares short after the final two weeks of last month was 1% or so less than on the previous settlement date, which had been the highest level of short interest since March. The latest reading totaled 16.5% of the available float. The average daily volume nearly matched a year-to-date high, shrinking the days to cover from more than 15 to about eight.
Sirius stock was downgraded by Goldman Sachs and others during the period. The stock ended the short interest period trading more than 4% lower, though it had been up about 8% at one point. The Nasdaq was just shy of flat between the settlement dates. Sirius stock closed at $7.05 on Wednesday. The 52-week low of $5.17 was reached early this year, while the $7.70 multiyear high was seen last month.
AMD
By the end of June, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had around 164.30 million shares short. That was 7.7 million or so less than the total on the previous settlement date, and it was the lowest level of short interest since February. The latest reading still represented 18.1% of the company’s float. The average daily volume decreased, but the number of days it would take to cover all short positions stayed about two.
Some analysts saw Nvidia as a better bet than AMD during the period. AMD shares did end the latest short interest period around 4% higher, and it has risen even more since then. The stock closed trading most recently at $16.27 a share, which is almost 41% higher year to date. Shares have changed hands at between $9.04 and $17.34 apiece in the past year.
Neovasc
Short interest at Neovasc Inc. (NASDAQ: NVCN) totaled more than 93.90 million shares by the middle of this month, after pulling back around 4% from a 52-week high on the prior settlement date. The most recent reading was the second greatest level of short interest in the past year. The days to cover jumped to more than four during the latest period as the average daily volume shrank sharply.
This Canadian cardiovascular device maker announced that its Tiara device was featured at the 11th Annual Transcatheter Valve Therapy Conference during the period. Short sellers watched the stock rise more than 33% (a penny per share) in those two weeks, though it has given up some of that gain since then. The most recent closing share price was less than $0.04, fractionally higher than the 52-week low of $0.03. Shares are more than 93% (more than 54 cents) lower year to date and so don’t appear to have much further to sink. The stock has traded as high as $1.89 a share in the past year.
Intel
More than 86.75 million Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) shares were sold short as of the most recent settlement date, the fourth period in a row with rising short interest. The latest figure was a little more than 1% higher than in the prior period, and it represented 1.9% of the chipmaker’s float. As of the end of last month, it still would take more than three days for investors to cover all of their short positions.
Intel’s CEO unexpectedly quit in late June. The June 29 closing share price was about 13% lower than on the previous settlement date, though it has recovered some of that loss since then. Intel closed most recently at $51.20 a share, down from the multiyear high of $57.60. The 52-week low is $33.23 per share. And the share price was last seen more than 9% higher year to date.
Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s (NASDAQ: CZR) short interest has increased for 10 straight periods, including more than 11% most recently. The more than 80.55 million shares on the month’s-end settlement date represented 13.9% of the total float and was the greatest number of shares short in the past year. Also note that the latest days to cover figure slipped from more than six to about five as the daily average volume increased.
The stock lately has been trading near its 52-week low. Its share price ended the most recent two-week period more than 7% lower and retreated some more since then. The stock closed on Wednesday at $11.15 per share, which is down more than 10% since the beginning of the year. Its 52-week trading range is $10.25 to $14.50, and that low was seen last week.
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Rounding out the top 10 were Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT), Opko Health Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK), TherapeuticsMD Inc. (NASDAQ: TXMD), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) and Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA). Mattel led the gainers among these, with about a 17% gain in short interest, while Comcast led the downward moves with a more than 16% pullback.
Lingering outside the spotlight of the top 10 most shorted Nasdaq stocks were Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: SGYP), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) and Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN), the last of which was also a big gainer. Meanwhile, tech giants Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) were well out the list with big drops in the numbers of their shares short in the latest settlement period.
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