The short interest data have come out for the January 15 settlement date. Recent short interest moves show that investors seem to be growing marginally more optimistic on the semiconductor industry as a whole, as short interest is dropping for the most part. It is important to note that semiconductor trends are considered to be leading indicators of technology and broader electronics demand. Chip makers with a solid position in the mobile space continue to advance, and the world’s largest semiconductor maker is also strong as demand for desktops and laptops is better than expected.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) saw its short interest fall by about 2 million shares to 133.6 million, with 4.3 days to cover. The previous level was 135.2 million shares with 5.0 days to cover. During this time, shares of Intel came close to hitting a 52-week high. Shares closed Tuesday at $34.19, in a 52-week trading range of $23.50 to $37.90.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) had its short interest increase to 132.7 million, with 11 days to cover, compared to the previous reading of 129.2 million shares with 12 days to cover. Shares of Advanced Micro Devices closed Tuesday at $2.70, in a 52-week trading range of $2.14 to $4.80.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) saw its short interest fall to 17.7 million shares with 1.7 days to cover, compared to the previous period, which reported a reading of 18.1 million shares with 2.2 days to cover. Following the market sell-off in October, short interest hit a 52-week low and since then has made a steady recovery to current levels. Qualcomm shares closed Tuesday at $71.77, in a 52-week trading range of $67.67 to $81.97.

Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) saw its short interest fall to 71.2 million shares, with 4.6 days to cover, for the January 15 settlement date. The previous reading was 72.8 million, with 6.1 days to cover, which was the third highest reading in the past 52-weeks. Applied Materials stock closed Tuesday at $23.57, in a 52-week trading range of $16.40 to $25.71.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) saw its short interest grow to 94.4 million shares, with 2.9 days to cover. Short interest has been in a constant decline since the mid-September settlement date, and this reading marks the first increase in short interest since that time. On the year, the highest short interest reading was 125.3 million in July. Shares of Micron closed Tuesday at $29.65, in a 52-week trading range of $21.02 to $36.59.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) was one of the chip stocks that had its short interest barely increase to mid-January. The reading was 16.7 million shares, with 2.5 days to cover, compared to the previous reading of 16.3 million, with 8.0 days to cover. Shares closed Tuesday at $79.00, in a 52-week trading range of $66.80 to $108.77.

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) saw its short interest fall to 7.3 million shares, with 1.7 days to cover, versus the previous short interest level of 7.8 million, also with 1.7 days to cover. It is worth noting that these past three short interest readings have been the lowest of the year. In this period, shares actually rose about 2.5%. Broadcom shares closed Tuesday at $41.34, in a 52-week trading range of $28.30 to $44.33.

Tags: Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD), Broadcom Corp (NASDAQ:BRCM), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), SanDisk Corp (NASDAQ:SNDK)
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