All of the top ten most shorted stocks on the NASDAQ had short interests of over 60 million shares, for the period which ended July 15. Not surprisingly, the largest industry represented in the group was tech.
Source: Gallup
The most shorted stock was Frontier Communications (NASDAQ: FTR) with a short interest of 163.4 million, down seven million. The small telecom company, based in Connecticut, has shares which trade at the bottom end of their 52-week range. Large cable, fiber infrastructure, satellite, and wireless firms threaten Frontier’s relatively small customer base.
Next on the list is a company which perennially has one of the highest short interests on NASDAQ. AMD (NASDAQ: AMD). The company’s prospects have been annihilated by the strength of much larger rival Intel. Short interest in AMD for the period was 153.2 million, sharply up by 35.5 million
Next, shares sold short in Sirius XM Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRI) fell less than one million to 142 million. The on air home to Howard Stern is threatened by other in car entertainment options from providers, including Apple.
Shares sold short in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) inched up 1.9 million to 143 million. Despite its market share in PC chips, it has been hurt in the eyes of investors, by its much smaller piece of the wireless smartphone market.
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Short interest in biotech firm MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD) dropped 2.4 million to 112.8 million. The biotech company has faced a slow launch of its inhalable diabetes drug Afrezza, which has caused worry on Wall St.
BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY) continues to search for business model which will replace its disappearing place in the smartphone sector. It has released some products which will keep important data stored and sent electronically secure. This new plan has not been accepted well by investors. Short interest in Blackberry was up 3.5 million to 105.1 million.
Next on the list, Groupon (NASDAQ :GRPN) needs to proved that its online coupon business is viable. While it pioneered the sector it has rising competition from large retailers which have borrowed from its model. Short interest in Groupon was up 2.6 million to 79.6 million.
Shares sold short in Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ: ESRX) fell 5.7 million to 74.2 million. Some analysts believe it will post lower than expected earning.
The tenth company on the list is Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) It posted disappointing numbers for its last quarter, particularly its forecast. Some investors are anxious about whether it can keep up it growth in the extremely important Chinese market. Short interest in Apple dropped 1.6 million to 62.1 billion
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