Technology

Short Sellers Continue to Back Off Major Semiconductors

Chris Lange

Published: November 25, 2015 9:11 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 4:46 pm

The short interest data have come out for the November 13 settlement date. It is important to note that semiconductor trends are considered to be leading indicators of technology and broader electronics demand.

On the broad scope, short sellers appear to have continued to back off these semiconductor stocks. The November 13 short interest data have been compared with the previous report.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) saw its short interest decrease to 95.56 million shares, the lowest reading in the past 52 weeks. The previous level was 108.21 million. Shares closed Tuesday at $34.36, in a 52-week trading range of $24.87 to $37.90.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had its short interest decrease to 116.88 million shares. The previous level was 119.78 million, compared to the late July level of 157.66 million, easily the highest so far in 2015. Shares of AMD closed Tuesday at $2.34, in a 52-week trading range of $1.61 to $3.37.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) saw its short interest continue to shrink to 17.49 million, compared to the previous period in which 19.68 million shares were reported short. Qualcomm shares closed Tuesday at $49.41, in a 52-week trading range of $47.52 to $75.72.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) short interest decreased to 21.04 million shares. The previous reading was 24.17 million. The highest reading year to date was 82.90 million in late February. Shares closed Tuesday at $18.38, in a 52-week range of $14.25 to $25.71.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) saw its short interest increase to 60.80 million shares from the previous reading of 60.07 million. Short interest is just off one of its lowest levels of the year. Shares of Micron closed Tuesday at $15.63, in a 52-week range of $13.50 to $36.59.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) had its short interest decrease for the mid-November settlement date. The most recent reading was 15.17 million shares, compared to the previous reading of 15.80 million. Shares closed Tuesday at $74.43, in a 52-week trading range of $44.28 to $106.64.

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) saw its short interest increase to 7.59 million shares, versus the previous short interest level of 6.29 million. Note that Broadcom has entered into an agreement with Avago to be purchased for $37 billion. Shares closed Tuesday at $54.11, in a 52-week range of $40.21 to $57.70.

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