Technology

Major Semiconductor Short Interest Bets Become More Selective

Chris Lange

Published: June 27, 2016 8:06 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 6:21 am

The short interest data have come out for the June 15 settlement date. It is important to note that semiconductor trends are considered to be leading indicators of technology and broader electronics demand.

The June 15 short interest data have been compared with the previous report. Short interest largely was mixed in these selected semiconductor stocks.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) saw its short interest decrease to 75.59 million shares. The previous level was 78.48 million. Shares closed Friday at $31.94, in a 52-week trading range of $24.87 to $35.59.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had a short interest decrease to 83.66 million shares. The previous level was 91.34 million, and it compared to the late July level of 157.66 million, easily the highest in the past 52 weeks. Shares of AMD closed Friday at $4.52, in a 52-week range of $1.61 to $4.71. Perhaps all of the analyst calls looking for big AMD upside had something to do with short sellers getting out of the way of the virtual reality and augmented learning freight train.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) saw its short interest decrease to 17.09 million, compared to the previous period, in which 22.29 million shares were reported short. Qualcomm shares closed Friday at $54.98, in a 52-week range of $42.24 to $67.67. Qualcomm remains in the middle of its 52-week range, but this is down almost 40% from its 2014 highs.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) short interest increased to 16.25 million shares. The previous reading was 15.31 million. Shares closed Friday at $23.23, in a 52-week range of $14.25 to $24.65.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) saw its short interest increase to 63.69 million shares from the previous reading of 62.48 million. Shares of Micron closed Friday at $12.51, in a 52-week range of $9.31 to $25.38.

Broadcom Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO), formerly Avago Technologies on the post Avago-Broadcom merger, saw its short interest increase slightly to 4.58 million shares from the previous level of 4.49 million. Shares closed Friday at $164.14, in a 52-week range of $100.00 to $166.00.