---
title: "Shorts hold 34.44% of Skyworks' float against the Qorvo merger's $500 million savings promise"
description: "Skyworks closed its $9.7 billion Qorvo combination on October 5 and swapped $1.42 billion of Qorvo bonds for its own paper. The register now splits: 34.44% of the float sold short as of September 15, against Abigail Johnson's 12.6% passive stake and Street targets from $61 to $107."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Money"
published: 2026-10-11T17:20:50.605Z
modified: 2026-10-11T17:20:50.605Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/shorts-hold-34-44-of-skyworks-float-against-the-qorvo-merger-s-500-million-savings-promise
language: en
keywords: "Skyworks Solutions, Qorvo, Short Interest, Mergers, Semiconductors"
---

# Shorts hold 34.44% of Skyworks' float against the Qorvo merger's $500 million savings promise

> Skyworks closed its $9.7 billion Qorvo combination on October 5 and swapped $1.42 billion of Qorvo bonds for its own paper. The register now splits: 34.44% of the float sold short as of September 15, against Abigail Johnson's 12.6% passive stake and Street targets from $61 to $107.

## The close came with the debt attached

[Skyworks](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/skyworks-solutions) [completed its $9.7 billion combination with](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/skyworks-completes-combination-with-qorvo-1036596936) [Qorvo](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/qorvo) on October 5, 2026, ending a 69-year Qorvo and RF Micro Devices era in Greensboro [1]. Qorvo holders received $32.50 in cash plus 0.960 of a Skyworks share each, and the new board splits eight Skyworks seats to three Qorvo [1][2]. Legacy Skyworks investors own about 63% of a company the two sides valued at $22.4 billion, a worth for the whole merged group rather than the price of Qorvo's stock [1]. The stock closed at $76.35 on October 9, down 10.2% across the week [3].

## The debt moved within 48 hours

The debt settled within 48 hours of the close [4]. [Holders tendered 91.7% of Qorvo's $850 million of 4.375% notes due 2029 and 92.4% of its $700 million of 3.375% notes due 2031](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/skyworks-announces-expiration-and-final-results-of-exchange-offers-for-qorvo-s-senior-notes-due-2029-and-2031-1036599210); Skyworks issued $778.1 million and $646.8 million of matching paper, leaving roughly $123 million of Qorvo bonds outstanding [4]. Management projects $500 million or more in annualized savings within 24 to 36 months [2].

*Chart: **Ninety percent of Qorvo's bonds swapped into Skyworks paper** Column chart comparing Qorvo's $850 million of 2029 notes and $700 million of 2031 notes with the $778.1 million and $646.8 million of Skyworks paper issued for them.*

*Principal tendered into the exchange offers that closed October 5, 2026, against the matching Skyworks notes issued, in millions of dollars. About $123 million of Qorvo bonds stayed outstanding. [4]*

## The shorts already voted

[Short interest stood at 32,713,338 shares on September 15, 34.44% of the float](https://www.quiverquant.com/news/Skyworks+Solutions+Stock+Short+Interest+Falls+to+34.44%25), even after a 5.34% drop from August 31 [5]. One in three tradeable shares is borrowed and sold. The case is the top line: quarterly revenue has slid from $1.22 billion in late 2023 to $934.8 million in the June quarter, down 3.1% year over year [6][7]. Mizuho lifted its target to $61 from $52 on October 9 and still rates the stock underperform, implying about 21% downside [6].

*Chart: **Legacy Skyworks revenue is 23% below its late 2023 peak** Line chart of Skyworks quarterly revenue from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026, declining from $1.219B to $0.935B.*

*Quarterly revenue of legacy Skyworks by calendar quarter, in billions of dollars, as reported in SEC filings. The Qorvo combination closed after the June 2026 quarter. [7]*

## The other side is buying

Abigail Johnson [filed a 12.6% passive stake as of September 30, an SEC disclosure](https://www.tradingview.com/news/reuters.com,2026:newsml_FWN45S206:0-abigail-p-johnson-reports-12-6-passive-stake-in-skyworks-solutions-as-of-september-30-shows-sec-filing/) shows [8]. The buying turns active from there: T. Rowe Price added 11.5 million shares in the second quarter, about $779 million worth [5]. B. Riley upgraded to buy at $107, from $68; Citigroup went to $90 from $64 and stayed neutral; RBC set $95 [6]. Seventeen of 24 analysts still say hold [6]. The bull pitch is an addressable market the company says more than doubles, into physical AI, defense and aerospace, and data center networking [2].

*Chart: **Street targets for Skyworks span $61 to $107 around a $76 close** Bar chart of analyst price targets for Skyworks ranging from $61 at Mizuho to $107 at B. Riley, against a $76.35 close.*

*Published price targets, July 29 to October 9, 2026, against the October 9 close. Ratings: Mizuho underperform, Morgan Stanley equal weight, Citigroup neutral, RBC sector perform, B. Riley buy. [6][3]*

## November prices the promise

Credit voted first: better than nine in ten Qorvo bondholders took Skyworks paper rather than hold out [4]. The equity rule is one sentence: a synergy print that holds the $500 million line [2] sends 32.7 million borrowed shares looking for an exit through 4.17 days of trading volume [5], into a stock already down 10% on the week [3], while a miss leaves the shorts paid to wait. The first combined guidance lands on the fiscal fourth-quarter call, November 3 [2].

## Takeaway

A third of Skyworks' float is sold short while Fidelity's chief executive holds 12.6% passively, and the November 3 guidance call is where the $500 million synergy promise either forces the shorts to cover or pays them to wait.

## Sources

1. [Greensboro News & Record (Lee Enterprises), Greensboro's Qorvo sold for $9.7 billion, collected 9 October 2026](https://greensboro.com/article_124b0421-ec6b-5f32-875f-2f42306af7ca.html)
2. [Skyworks press release via GlobeNewswire (Markets Insider), Skyworks Completes Combination with Qorvo, 5 October 2026](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/skyworks-completes-combination-with-qorvo-1036596936)
3. [MarketScreener, Citigroup Adjusts Price Target on Skyworks Solutions to $90 From $64, Maintains Neutral Rating, 6 October 2026 (page current through the 9 October close)](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/citigroup-adjusts-price-target-on-skyworks-solutions-to-90-from-64-maintains-neutral-rating-ce785dd9d98af424)
4. [Skyworks press release via GlobeNewswire (Markets Insider), Skyworks Announces Expiration and Final Results of Exchange Offers for Qorvo's Senior Notes due 2029 and 2031, 5 October 2026](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/skyworks-announces-expiration-and-final-results-of-exchange-offers-for-qorvo-s-senior-notes-due-2029-and-2031-1036599210)
5. [Quiver Quantitative, Skyworks Solutions Stock Short Interest Falls to 34.44%, 7 October 2026](https://www.quiverquant.com/news/Skyworks+Solutions+Stock+Short+Interest+Falls+to+34.44%25)
6. [MarketBeat, Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ:SWKS) Stock, 9 October 2026](https://www.marketbeat.com/instant-alerts/analyst-mizuho-forecasts-strong-price-appreciation-for-skyworks-solutions-nasdaq-swks-stock-2026-10-09/)
7. [Skyworks Solutions quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 11 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000004127)
8. [Reuters via TradingView, Abigail P. Johnson Reports 12.6% Passive Stake In Skyworks Solutions As Of September 30, Shows SEC Filing, collected 8 October 2026](https://www.tradingview.com/news/reuters.com,2026:newsml_FWN45S206:0-abigail-p-johnson-reports-12-6-passive-stake-in-skyworks-solutions-as-of-september-30-shows-sec-filing/)


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Shorts hold 34.44% of Skyworks' float against the Qorvo merger's $500 million savings promise — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/shorts-hold-34-44-of-skyworks-float-against-the-qorvo-merger-s-500-million-savings-promise