Semiconductor Sector Short Side Recap
Author:
Ihor Dusaniwsky
Managing Director of Predictive Analytics, S3 Partners
The Biden administration is considering far ranging trade restriction on selling semiconductor equipment and technology to China and is considering imposing the Foreign Direct Product Rule which effects all products that use even minimal amounts of U.S. components or technology. The semiconductor sector has trading down significantly on the news with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) down -7.2% today.
There are 148 stocks with short interest in the U.S. semiconductor sector with $119 billion of short intertest and 2.76% Short Interest % Float. NVDA is by far the largest short in the sector with nearly a third of the total short exposure in the sector.
Semiconductor Short Interest
Ticker
SI % Float
Short Interest
NVIDIA Corp
NVDA US
1.28%
$38,742,922,208
Broadcom Inc
AVGO US
1.12%
$8,727,466,908
Advanced Micro Devices Inc
AMD US
2.70%
$7,803,084,765
QUALCOMM Inc
QCOM US
2.45%
$5,668,987,871
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufactu
TSM US
0.56%
$5,389,637,711
Texas Instruments Inc
TXN US
2.19%
$4,012,293,921
Applied Materials Inc
AMAT US
1.87%
$3,789,968,955
Micron Technology Inc
MU US
2.55%
$3,688,032,840
Intel Corp
INTC US
2.25%
$3,295,248,272
Marvell Technology Inc
MRVL US
5.01%
$3,159,285,117
Lam Research Corp
LRCX US
1.92%
$2,672,864,271
ARM Holdings PLC
ARM US
1.27%
$2,350,881,570
Microchip Technology Inc
MCHP US
4.87%
$2,353,815,602
Analog Devices Inc
ADI US
1.96%
$2,300,744,144
KLA Corp
KLAC US
1.93%
$2,227,791,625
ON Semiconductor Corp
ON US
4.97%
$1,624,456,105
Enphase Energy Inc
ENPH US
10.56%
$1,564,601,909
ASML Holding NV
ASML US
0.35%
$1,483,236,332
Monolithic Power Systems Inc
MPWR US
3.65%
$1,479,005,489
First Solar Inc
FSLR US
4.79%
$1,032,359,492
Total Sector
2.76%
$119,014,515,097
Ex NVDA
3.47%
$80,271,592,889
We had been seeing increased short selling in the sector this year as short sellers looked to target over-heated stocks in the sector, primarily NVDA, TSM, QCOM, MRVL and MU. Short interest in the sector has increased by $49.4 billion, or +71% to $119.0 billion for the year. The increase in short interest was comprised of $15.6 billion of increased short selling coupled with $33.8 billion change in the mark-to-market value of shares shorted.
Semiconductor Short Interest
Ticker
YTD Change
YTD Shares Shorted
YTD Ch MTM
NVIDIA Corp
NVDA US
$26,443,812,605
$6,844,016,224
$19,599,796,382
Broadcom Inc
AVGO US
$1,902,798,127
($1,753,023,211)
$3,655,821,338
Advanced Micro Devices Inc
AMD US
$557,437,792
($1,036,103,330)
$1,593,541,122
QUALCOMM Inc
QCOM US
$3,346,977,229
$2,326,692,414
$1,020,284,815
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufactu
TSM US
$3,692,020,335
$2,366,246,446
$1,325,773,889
Texas Instruments Inc
TXN US
$1,405,498,404
$926,836,444
$478,661,960
Applied Materials Inc
AMAT US
$135,157,719
($1,747,384,977)
$1,882,542,697
Micron Technology Inc
MU US
$1,963,750,856
$1,043,823,970
$919,926,886
Intel Corp
INTC US
($282,232,389)
$841,915,250
($1,124,147,639)
Marvell Technology Inc
MRVL US
$2,014,227,033
$1,761,900,338
$252,326,695
Lam Research Corp
LRCX US
$357,832,817
($487,036,365)
$844,869,183
ARM Holdings PLC
ARM US
$1,590,238,481
$553,862,891
$1,036,375,590
Microchip Technology Inc
MCHP US
$392,944,117
$351,413,058
$41,531,059
Analog Devices Inc
ADI US
$734,622,000
$425,751,313
$308,870,687
KLA Corp
KLAC US
$947,539,411
$337,871,961
$609,667,450
ON Semiconductor Corp
ON US
($507,732,763)
($324,966,507)
($182,766,257)
Enphase Energy Inc
ENPH US
$255,779,655
$444,763,475
($188,983,820)
ASML Holding NV
ASML US
$437,681,542
$14,014,389
$423,667,153
Monolithic Power Systems Inc
MPWR US
$536,154,023
$177,222,347
$358,931,676
First Solar Inc
FSLR US
$344,073,844
$179,713,085
$164,360,759
Total Sector
$49,359,898,130
$15,598,196,485
$33,761,701,645
Ex NVDA
$22,916,085,525
$8,754,180,261
$14,161,905,263
But over the last thirty days semiconductor short interest decreased by $613 million which was made up of $1.97 billion of short covering partially offset by a $1.35 billion increase in the mark-to-market value of the shares shorted. Shorts were trimming some of their short exposure to the sector as the sector continued to rally and they incurred mark-to-market losses.
Semiconductor Short Interest
Ticker
30D Change
30D Shares Shorted
30D Ch MTM
NVIDIA Corp
NVDA US
($2,803,759,734)
($1,720,042,925)
($1,083,716,809)
Broadcom Inc
AVGO US
($1,313,815,101)
($1,193,206,629)
($120,608,472)
Advanced Micro Devices Inc
AMD US
$1,136,714,717
$293,134,594
$843,580,124
QUALCOMM Inc
QCOM US
$656,188,588
$822,637,663
($166,449,075)
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufactu
TSM US
$21,607,124
($373,892,687)
$395,499,812
Texas Instruments Inc
TXN US
($9,571,929)
($172,603,870)
$163,031,941
Applied Materials Inc
AMAT US
$41,662,102
($93,070,331)
$134,732,433
Micron Technology Inc
MU US
($411,067,048)
($106,882,315)
($304,184,733)
Intel Corp
INTC US
$251,834,535
($148,956,590)
$400,791,125
Marvell Technology Inc
MRVL US
$304,878,763
$292,022,797
$12,855,966
Lam Research Corp
LRCX US
$265,509,890
$188,523,688
$76,986,202
ARM Holdings PLC
ARM US
$627,654,637
$413,301,738
$214,352,899
Microchip Technology Inc
MCHP US
($118,337,378)
($138,363,664)
$20,026,286
Analog Devices Inc
ADI US
$259,779,173
$202,131,663
$57,647,510
KLA Corp
KLAC US
($199,839,521)
($297,788,308)
$97,948,788
ON Semiconductor Corp
ON US
($81,425,918)
($185,717,796)
$104,291,877
Enphase Energy Inc
ENPH US
($48,791,050)
$100,752,971
($149,544,021)
ASML Holding NV
ASML US
$124,647,539
$77,422,694
$47,224,846
Monolithic Power Systems Inc
MPWR US
$243,795,155
$145,262,563
$98,532,592
First Solar Inc
FSLR US
($496,225,429)
($159,960,211)
($336,265,219)
Total Sector
($613,386,169)
($1,965,289,084)
$1,351,902,915
Ex NVDA
$2,190,373,564
($245,246,159)
$2,435,619,724
Semiconductor shorts are up $8.2 billion in one day mark-to-market profits today, up 6.9%. NVDA shorts were the big winners today, up +$2.56 billion in one day mark-to-market profits,+6.61%. Semiconductor shorts have turned around an unprofitable July and are now up $+2.26 billion in month-to-date mark-to-market profits, +1.92%. But they are still deep in the red for the year, down -$28.13 billion in year-to-date mark-to-market losses, -31.77%.
Mark-To-Market P\L (in $mm's)
Ticker
Day MTM P\L
P\L %
MTD MTM P\L
P\L %
YTD MTM P\L
P\L %
NVIDIA Corp
NVDA US
$2,561
6.61%
$1,711
4.42%
($19,095)
-73.41%
Broadcom Inc
AVGO US
$680
7.80%
$196
2.07%
($2,446)
-33.01%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc
AMD US
$785
10.07%
$168
2.30%
($582)
-9.13%
QUALCOMM Inc
QCOM US
$491
8.67%
$211
3.82%
($789)
-22.31%
Taiwan Semi Manufact.
TSM US
$425
7.88%
$94
1.85%
($1,496)
-44.34%
Texas Instruments Inc
TXN US
$47
1.17%
($187)
-4.81%
($639)
-19.99%
Applied Materials Inc
AMAT US
$398
10.49%
$256
6.80%
($802)
-26.97%
Micron Technology Inc
MU US
$225
6.11%
$334
9.03%
($717)
-26.47%
Intel Corp
INTC US
($11)
-0.35%
($329)
-10.59%
$1,034
35.96%
Marvell Technology Inc
MRVL US
$322
10.18%
$77
2.45%
($141)
-7.13%
Lam Research Corp
LRCX US
$276
10.32%
$247
9.16%
($446)
-19.06%
ARM Holdings PLC
ARM US
$225
9.56%
$40
1.72%
($849)
-72.58%
Microchip Technology Inc
MCHP US
$84
3.57%
$0
0.02%
($22)
-1.03%
Analog Devices Inc
ADI US
$75
3.25%
($63)
-2.95%
($390)
-22.61%
KLA Corp
KLAC US
$222
9.96%
$109
4.91%
($434)
-27.32%
ON Semiconductor Corp
ON US
$70
4.29%
($155)
-9.46%
$234
14.69%
Enphase Energy Inc
ENPH US
$69
4.44%
($153)
-10.52%
$204
15.77%
ASML Holding NV
ASML US
$188
12.66%
$128
8.62%
($137)
-14.59%
Monolithic Power Systems
MPWR US
$122
8.28%
$7
0.45%
($201)
-23.92%
First Solar Inc
FSLR US
$63
6.13%
$84
7.38%
($209)
-22.43%
Total Sector
$8,204
6.89%
$2,263
1.92%
($28,130)
-31.77%
Ex NVDA
$5,643
7.03%
$551
0.70%
($9,035)
-14.45%
Today’s semiconductor market downturn should reverse the trend of recent short covering with short sellers maintaining or increasing their exposure to the sector in hopes of recouping some of their year-to-date mark-to-market losses.
Our Blacklight SaaS platform and Black App provides an up-to-date view of short selling and short covering on an equity, sector, index, or country-wide basis allowing investors\traders to better manage their existing long and short positions. The Black MaP and Black App products provide a total view of long and short positioning in the market with a breakdown between Active\Passive long investors, 24 Fund type entities, over 50k securities globally across 108 countries and data from 58 regulatory exchanges.