SSR explodes to 5.27% short as lithium shorts reshuffle
February 2024
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) tightened its grip on #1 with 21.35% short, up +0.80% in February, even as the market’s average short position fell to 1.01% (period average change: -0.17%) across 686 stocks. The month’s cleanest signal was rotation, not retreat: shorts covered hard in Core Lithium (CXO) (-3.90%) and IGO (-3.27%) while piling into Liontown (LTR) (+2.02%) and Deep Yellow (DYL) (+0.65%). The left-field move was SSR Mining (SSR), which jumped from 0.23% to 5.27% (+5.04%) in a single month.
This Month's Analysis
A stock doesn’t go from 0.23% short to 5.27% short by accident. SSR Mining (SSR) was February’s lightning strike (+5.04%), while the bigger story underneath was a lithium trade that stopped being “short everything” and started getting picky: shorts added to Pilbara Minerals (PLS) (+0.80%) and Liontown (LTR) (+2.02%), but slammed the door on positions in Core Lithium (CXO) (-3.90%) and IGO (-3.27%). Same sector. Opposite flows. That’s positioning, not panic.
1) PLS: 21.35% (+0.80%) The market’s most crowded short got more crowded. PLS is liquid, index-relevant, and still the cleanest way to express “lithium margins stay under pressure”. At 21.35%, the risk is obvious: any upside catalyst can turn into a squeeze. Shorts are still pressing anyway. 2) SYR: 16.83% (-0.50%) A small trim, not a change of view. SYR remains heavily shorted, but February reads like risk control rather than capitulation. 3) IEL: 10.25% (-0.02%) Basically unchanged. The market is parked here waiting for the next catalyst. 4) DYL: 9.92% (+0.65%) Shorts crept higher despite the uranium enthusiasm. This is the classic “valuation vs timeline” trade: when the sector runs, the market starts hunting for projects it thinks are priced for perfection. 5) FLT: 9.62% (+1.26%) A big lift for a large consumer-facing name. Shorts are leaning into the rate-sensitive discretionary angle: travel demand can look fine right up until budgets tighten. 6) GMD: 9.40% (+0.28%) A modest increase, but it keeps GMD in the crowded end of the pool. 7) CXO: 8.76% (-3.90%) Still high, but the covering was savage. This is what de-crowding looks like: the trade was working, then funds took profit and reduced squeeze risk. 8) ACL: 8.49% (+2.21%) One of the sharpest increases in the whole market. Pathology looks defensive until pricing and margins come into view; a +2.21% jump says shorts see earnings risk. 9) LTR: 7.95% (+2.02%) Shorts piled in. In a weak lithium tape, development complexity gets punished fast, and February’s move says scepticism is building. 10) WBT: 7.81% (-0.97%) A meaningful ease. Shorts reduced exposure rather than doubling down.
Daily Snapshots
Top Shorted Stocks This Month
Biggest Risers
Stocks with the largest increase in short interest this month.
Biggest Fallers
Stocks with the largest decrease in short interest this month.
Movers Analysis
Biggest risers (shorts piling in): - SSR: 0.23% → 5.27% (+5.04%) This was the month’s standout initiation. Whatever the driver, the positioning change is the fact: SSR went from irrelevant to heavily targeted in one print. - ACL: 6.28% → 8.49% (+2.21%) A decisive step-up. The market is treating this as an earnings battleground. - NCK: 0.95% → 3.08% (+2.13%) Furniture is a pure household confidence trade. Shorts moved early and hard. - STX: 2.62% → 4.65% (+2.03%) A clear increase in scepticism around a smaller energy name. - LTR: 5.93% → 7.95% (+2.02%) The lithium split in one line: LTR up, CXO down. Biggest fallers (shorts covering): - SYA: 11.53% → 7.37% (-4.16%) - CXO: 12.66% → 8.76% (-3.90%) - IGO: 4.11% → 0.85% (-3.27%) Three big covers in the same theme. This wasn’t a sudden love-in for lithium; it was profit-taking and de-risking in trades that had become crowded. - TPW: 4.15% → 1.44% (-2.71%) Shorts backed away meaningfully. - SHV: 6.65% → 4.17% (-2.48%) Another solid cover, consistent with funds trimming consumer/earnings shorts that had become consensus.
Industry Trends
Resources still dominate the leaderboard, but February was about rotation inside the trade. Lithium remains the centre of gravity: PLS is #1 at 21.35%, with LTR and CXO also in the top 10. Yet the flows weren’t uniform. Shorts concentrated into the big liquid bellwether (PLS) and added to LTR, while covering aggressively in CXO, SYA and IGO. That’s a market choosing where it wants its risk. Outside resources, the pressure point was the domestic economy. FLT (+1.26%) and NCK (+2.13%) both saw shorts lift, while TPW (-2.71%) and SHV (-2.48%) saw shorts cut. Same consumer. Different expressions. The market is splitting hairs on who can hold margin when budgets tighten.
Outlook
Watch whether SSR holds above 5.27% short next month or snaps back — that will tell you if February was a one-off hit or the start of a new crowded trade. In lithium, the tell is simple: does PLS keep climbing from 21.35% while CXO stays on the cover path, or do shorts rotate back down the risk curve?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most shorted ASX stock in February 2024?
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) at 21.35% short interest (up +0.80% month-on-month).
Which stock had the biggest rise in short interest this month?
SSR Mining (SSR), up from 0.23% to 5.27% short (+5.04%).
Why did shorts fall so much in Core Lithium (CXO) and IGO?
CXO fell from 12.66% to 8.76% (-3.90%) and IGO fell from 4.11% to 0.85% (-3.27%), consistent with de-crowding and profit-taking in the lithium short basket.
Which non-resources stocks are shorts adding to?
Flight Centre (FLT) rose to 9.62% (+1.26%), Australian Clinical Labs (ACL) rose to 8.49% (+2.21%), and Nick Scali (NCK) rose to 3.08% (+2.13%).
Did overall shorting increase or decrease across the market?
Overall shorting eased: across 686 stocks, the average short position was 1.01% and the period average change was -0.17%.
Data sourced from ASIC short position reports (T+4 delayed). This report is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Short selling data may not reflect real-time market conditions.