---
title: "Shorts left Skyworks at the fastest rate on FINRA's list as the Qorvo deal closed"
description: "FINRA's October 15 report shows Skyworks short interest down 3.74 points to 14.9% of float, the largest fall on its list, in the window that spans the October 5 close of the $22 billion Qorvo combination. On November 3 the combined company gives its first guidance."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Chips"
published: 2026-10-28T14:03:14.032Z
modified: 2026-10-28T14:03:14.032Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/shorts-left-skyworks-at-the-fastest-rate-on-finra-s-list-as-the-qorvo-deal-closed
language: en
keywords: "Skyworks, Qorvo, Short Interest, Semiconductors, Mergers"
---

# Shorts left Skyworks at the fastest rate on FINRA's list as the Qorvo deal closed

> FINRA's October 15 report shows Skyworks short interest down 3.74 points to 14.9% of float, the largest fall on its list, in the window that spans the October 5 close of the $22 billion Qorvo combination. On November 3 the combined company gives its first guidance.

## The trade that defined the stock just ended

The biggest short-interest fall on FINRA's monthly list belongs to [Skyworks Solutions](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/skyworks-solutions), the Irvine, California maker of the radio-frequency chips that sit between a smartphone's antenna and its modem. Short interest, the shares sold short and not yet bought back, [fell 3.74 percentage points to 14.9% of float in the report dated October 15, from 18.64% on September 30, with 2.48 days to cover](https://www.asktraders.com/analysis/top-10-us-short-interest-falls-report-of-the-15th-of-october-skyworks-leads-at-14-9/) [1]. [Norwegian Cruise Line](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/norwegian-cruise-line-holdings), second on the list, fell 1.66 points [1].

## What the exit ran into

Skyworks [completed its combination with Qorvo](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/skyworks-completes-combination-with-qorvo-1036596936), its rival in radio-frequency filters and amplifiers, on October 5, 2026 [2]. [Qorvo](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/qorvo) holders received $32.50 in cash plus 0.960 Skyworks shares each, leaving legacy Skyworks holders with about 63% of the combined company and legacy Qorvo holders about 37% [2]. The company claims $500 million or more in annualized cost synergies within 24 to 36 months of close, roughly 8,000 engineers and more than 12,000 issued and pending patents [2]. The buyer came into the close worth about $19.6 billion [1].

## The largest exit on the list is mechanical, not a blessing

Arbitrageurs, the traders who buy a takeover target and short the buyer to pocket the spread, have no job once a deal closes: the spread is gone and the covering is compulsory. FINRA's October 15 snapshot spans the October 5 close, so the list's largest unwind lands exactly where the mechanics put it [1].

Trade copy also ran behind the record: a summary updated on October 23 still had the $22 billion merger in its final approval stages, closing expected by end of 2026 [5], eighteen days after the company said it was done [2].

## The receipts: one position leaves, one holder stays

14.9% of float is still the second-heaviest short position on the ten-name list, behind Norwegian Cruise Line's 19.6% [1].

[BlackRock](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/blackrock), the New York asset manager, [filed an amended passive-ownership statement (Schedule 13G/A, the form used by holders above 5%) on October 27](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2012383/000201238326003848/0002012383-26-003848-index.htm) reporting 10,517,597 Skyworks shares, 7.0% of the class, sole voting power over 10,041,477 of them and sole dispositive power over all, an event date of September 30, and a certification that the stake is ordinary course and not for control [3].

[Options price a 7.8% move on the November 3 print](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/skyworks-solutions-options-signal-78-move-on-nov-3-earnings-93CH-4976130) [4]. The combined business is cited at about $7.7 billion in pro-forma revenue and $2.1 billion in adjusted EBITDA [5].

On October 8, the Foreign-Trade Zones Board authorized Qorvo US semiconductor wafer and module production at its Hillsboro, Oregon and Greensboro, North Carolina subzones on a limited basis, for two years only, and told the applicant it would not review the proposals further [6][7].

*Chart: **Skyworks' short interest fell more than twice as much as any other name on FINRA's list** Bar chart ranking the ten largest falls in short interest on FINRA's October 15, 2026, report; Skyworks leads with a 3.74 percentage point drop to 14.9% of float.*

*Change in short interest as a share of float, percentage points, FINRA report dated October 15, 2026, versus September 30, 2026; negative is a fall. Skyworks shares completed the Qorvo combination on October 5, 2026. Source: AskTraders summary of FINRA data, October 28, 2026. [1]*

## What the unwind does not prove

A falling short base is not an endorsement of the fundamentals; it is the arbitrage trade dying on schedule.

The number that matters to holders sits elsewhere: BlackRock's passive stake stood at 7.0% as of September 30, through the close window [3], while the $500 million synergy promise is company guidance, not an audited result, and the completion announcement itself lists the substantial additional indebtedness taken on for the deal among the risks [2]. The two-year, limited FTZ permits are the same theme in miniature: the domestic manufacturing story [2] is real, but running on short authorizations [6][7].

## November 3 prices execution, not the deal

The fiscal fourth-quarter call on November 3 is the first since the close, and the company has said the financial guidance for what it now owns arrives on that call [2]. Three lines decide the next leg: the synergy schedule against its 24 to 36 month clock, the debt, and whether the options' implied 7.8% move was too small [2]. The arbitrage trade paid for certainty. From November 3, holders are paid for execution [2].

## Takeaway

The largest short-interest fall on FINRA's October 15 list is the merger-arb trade unwinding on schedule, not a verdict on Skyworks' fundamentals; the first combined-company guidance on November 3 prices execution, with a 7.0% BlackRock passive stake and a $500 million synergy promise still to prove.

## Sources

1. [AskTraders, Top 10 US Short Interest Falls: Report of the 15th of October, Skyworks Leads at 14.9%, 28 October 2026](https://www.asktraders.com/analysis/top-10-us-short-interest-falls-report-of-the-15th-of-october-skyworks-leads-at-14-9/)
2. [Markets Insider (GlobeNewswire), Skyworks Completes Combination with Qorvo, 5 October 2026](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/skyworks-completes-combination-with-qorvo-1036596936)
3. [SEC EDGAR, Schedule 13G/A (Amendment No. 3), BlackRock, Inc. re Skyworks Solutions Inc., filed 27 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2012383/000201238326003848/0002012383-26-003848-index.htm)
4. [Investing.com, Skyworks Solutions options signal 7.8% move on Nov. 3 earnings, 27 October 2026](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/skyworks-solutions-options-signal-78-move-on-nov-3-earnings-93CH-4976130)
5. [Gotrade News, Skyworks-Qorvo $22B Merger Nears Nod as Chip Deal Moves Ripple, updated 23 October 2026](https://www.heygotrade.com/en/news/skyworks-qorvo-merger-samsung-qualcomm-2nm-enflame-ipo/)
6. [GovSource, FTZ 45 authorizes limited two-year production activity for Qorvo US in Hillsboro, Oregon (Correction), 23 October 2026](https://www.govsrc.com/briefs/ftz-45-authorizes-limited-two-year-production-activity-for-qorvo-us-in-hillsboro-oregon-correction-brief-26422)
7. [GovSource, FTZ 230 authorizes limited two-year production at Qorvo US in Greensboro for semiconductor wafers, modules, and chips, 23 October 2026](https://www.govsrc.com/briefs/ftz-230-authorizes-limited-two-year-production-at-qorvo-us-in-greensboro-for-semiconductor-wafers-modules-and-chips-brief-26423)


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Shorts left Skyworks at the fastest rate on FINRA's list as the Qorvo deal closed — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/shorts-left-skyworks-at-the-fastest-rate-on-finra-s-list-as-the-qorvo-deal-closed