The short interest data have come out for the April 30 settlement date. It is important to note that semiconductor trends are considered to be leading indicators of technology and broader electronics demand. Chip makers with a solid position in the mobile space continue to advance, and the world’s largest semiconductor maker is also strong as demand for desktops and laptops has been better than expected.

Overall investors are appearing more optimistic for semiconductor stocks as a majority of this sample has seen its short levels decrease. The April 30 short interest data have been compared with the previous figures.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) saw its short interest back off to 108.5 million shares. The previous level was 115.2 million. Shares closed Monday at $32.69, in a 52-week trading range of $25.74 to $37.90.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had its short interest increase about 8.5% to 108.5 million shares. The previous level was 99.97 million. Shares of AMD closed Monday at $2.32, in a 52-week trading range of $2.14 to $4.80.

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Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) saw its short interest decrease to 19.2 million, compared to the previous period, in which 21.5 million shares were reported short. Currently this is the near some of the highest readings within the past year. Qualcomm shares closed Monday at $69.05, in a 52-week trading range of $62.26 to $81.97.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) saw its short interest for the April 30 settlement date decline handily to 48.99 million shares. The previous reading was 77.1 million. The current reading dropped from one of the top five of the highest short interest readings within the past 52-weeks to now the lowest reading. Shares closed Monday at $19.92, in a 52-week trading range of $18.48 to $25.71.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) saw its short interest fall to 72.2 million shares from the previous reading of 79.7 million. Short interest is currently at its second lowest level on the year. Shares of Micron closed Monday at $27.75, in a 52-week range of $25.25 to $36.59.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) was one of the chip stocks that had its short interest decrease in late April. The most recent reading was 16.1 million shares, compared to the previous reading of 19.6 million. Shares closed Monday at $67.77, in a 52-week trading range of $63.00 to $108.77.

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) saw its short interest increase by about 10% to 7.77 million shares, versus the previous short interest level of 7.07 million. Shares closed Monday at $45.95, in a 52-week range of $29.30 to $47.09.

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