[bhouston]

It could also have been used to motivate people to buy shorts by leaking it to friends before its official public release. Is there any way to profit from getting people to buy shorts that won't make money in the end of AMD's stock didn't move?

I guess you could try to ruin some people by leaking fake inside information like this and getting them to load up on AMD puts.

If that was possible, I can see this move being profitable, but if it was to move the actual AMD price it was a failure.

[undersuit]

If you're the one selling the shorts you profit when the buyers miss their target.