Short Interest Lagging in Chip Stocks

June 11, 2014 by Paul Ausick

micro chip
Source: Thinkstock
The predominant feeling among short sellers of semiconductor stocks seems to be that now is a good time to look elsewhere. Only two of seven stocks saw a rise in short interest in the two-week period ending May 30, 2014, and those increases were modest.

For Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), short interest fell 4.2% to 170.21 million shares. About 3.4% of Intel’s float is now short. In the two-week short interest period, shares gained about 3.8%, and they are up about 9.5% year-to-date through Tuesday’s close at $28.24. The stock’s 52-week range is $21.89 to $28.42.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) saw short interest decline by 6.5% to 103.81 million shares, or 16.8% of the company’s total float. In the two-week short interest period, shares rose 0.5%, and they are up more than 6% year-to-date through Tuesday’s close at $4.20. The stock’s 52-week range is $3.04 to $4.65.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) short interest rose 1.6% to 19.04 million shares, which represents about 1.1% of the company’s float. In the two-week short interest period, shares rose fractionally. They are up nearly 8% year-to-date through Tuesday’s close at $79.18. The stock has a 52-week range of $59.02 to $81.66.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) saw a 0.6% drop in short interest to 77.36 million shares, which represents about 6.4% of the firm’s float. In the two-week short interest period, shares rose 6.5%, and they have risen nearly 25% year-to-date through Tuesday’s close at $21.89. The stock’s 52-week range is $14.62 to $22.10.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) showed a drop of 3.0% in short interest to 109.97 million shares, which is about 10.3% of Micron’s float. In the two-week short interest period, shares rose nearly 6.5%. They have risen more than 36% year-to-date through Tuesday’s close at $29.51. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $12.31 to $30.81, and the high was set Wednesday morning.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) saw short interest rise by 0.7% to 16.28 million shares. That is about 7.2% of the company’s float. The stock is up about 40% since the beginning of the year, and it gained 7.5% in the two-week period to May 30. The stock’s 52-week range is $53.09 to $100.49, and shares ended Tuesday at $97.14.

Short interest in Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) fell 13.6% to 11.07 million shares. That is 2.1% of the company’s total float. In the two-week short interest period, shares rose 0.8%, but they have risen more than 30% year-to-date through Tuesday’s close at $37.94. The stock’s 52-week range is $23.25 to $38.48.

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