Investing
The 6 Most Shorted Nasdaq Stocks
February 12, 2019 6:45 am
Last Updated: March 13, 2020 7:55 pm
TherapeuticsMD
> Shares short: More than 70.50 million
> Change from prior period: +1.3%
> Percentage of float: 36.1
Most recently, the number of TherapeuticsMD Inc. (NASDAQ: TXMD) shares sold short reclaimed a similar decline in the first two weeks of the month. And the average daily volume pulled back, so it would take more than 30 days for investors to cover all their short positions as of the latest settlement date.
The success of the company’s new treatment for dyspareunia due to menopause helped to boost the share price through January. The stock ended the period with a gain of more than 3%, despite being down about that much early in those two weeks.
TherapeuticsMD stock closed most recently at $5.29 a share, after climbing more than 31% year to date. The shares have traded hands at between $3.51 (seen back in December) and $7.66 (last summer) apiece in the past 52 weeks.
Comcast
> Shares short: More than 65.82 million
> Change from prior period: +2.0%
> Percentage of float: 1.5
Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) jumped up from seventh place to number five on the most shorted Nasdaq stocks list in the final two weeks of last month. The prior reading was the lowest since last October. The average daily volume rose sharply in the two-week period, but the number of days it would take for investors to cover all their short positions ticked down to less than three.
This Philadelphia-based media giant posted better-than-expected quarterly numbers during the short interest period. Between the latest settlement dates, the share price bounced from a gain of almost 4% to a loss of less than 3% and landed on an increase of over 2% by month’s end.
The stock closed most recently at $37.00 a share, which represents a year-to-date gain of almost 8%. The shares have traded hands at between $30.43 and $40.42 apiece in the past 52 weeks, and the high was put in about a year ago.
Novavax
> Shares short: More than 63.77 million
> Change from prior period: +4.1%
> Percentage of float: 16.9
Like Comcast, Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) had risen a couple of spots on the list by the latest settlement date. The latest figure represented the greatest number of shares short in the past year. The average daily trading volume pulled back notably during the period, and the days to cover figure increased from more than five to over seven.
Last month, Novavax announced that results were available from a midstage clinical trial of its NanoFlu. By the latest short interest settlement date, the share price was about up about 11%, despite being almost 5% lower a couple of times in the two-week period.
After pulling back more than 5% last week, Novavax stock ended trading most recently at $2.20 a share, which falls within a 52-week range of $ 1.15 to $2.75. The share price currently is more than 12% higher than at the beginning of this year.
Rounding out the top 10 were Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) and Opko Health Inc. (NASDAQ: OPK). All four saw some decline in their short interest during the period, led by the toy and game stocks here.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) slipped out of the top 10 most shorted Nasdaq stocks this time. Lingering outside the spotlight of the top 10 along with it was JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD). And note that the number of Frontier Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: FTR) shares sold short jumped, but not enough to lift it into the top 10. Also, short sellers yielded on Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) in a big way, allowing it to drop well out of our list. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw a notable decline in short interest as well.
Sponsored: Find a Qualified Financial Advisor
Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to 3 fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.