WGX shorts vanish, ACL gets hit, and uranium joins the sin bin
August 2024
Westgold (WGX) saw the month’s biggest clean-out: short interest collapsed from 12.59% to 2.64% (-9.94%). Pilbara Minerals (PLS) still tops the ASX short book at 20.35% but eased (-1.47%), while fresh heat went into Australian Clinical Labs (ACL) up to 6.96% (+4.62%) and uranium names led by Paladin (PDN) at 9.54% (+1.99%) and Lotus (LOT) at 7.16% (+3.28%). Overall positioning barely moved (average short 1.21%, period average change +0.02%, 639 stocks shorted).
This Month's Analysis
The loudest signal in August wasn’t lithium. It was Westgold (WGX) getting scrubbed from the short book — 12.59% down to 2.64% (-9.94%) in a month. That’s not a gentle change of mind. That’s a trade ending and shorts getting out of the way.
PLS stays the market’s favourite punching bag at 20.35% short, even after shorts trimmed (-1.47%). The lithium short is still crowded — it’s just not getting more crowded. The non-resources standout is IDP Education (IEL): 13.69% short, up +1.02%. Shorts are leaning into policy risk around international student flows and the sensitivity of volumes and pricing to visa settings and currency. Syrah (SYR) is where the pressure built fastest inside the top end: 12.72% short, up +2.13%. Graphite has become a magnet for sceptics because execution and market pricing matter more than the EV slogan. Down the list, PDN has become a proper battleground stock: 9.54% short, up +1.99%. When a uranium bellwether is being shorted harder into month-end, the market is trading the path to delivery, not the long-term nuclear pitch. (Paladin disclosures: https://www.paladinenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Paladin-2025AnnualReport-Full-Web.pdf) Cettire (CTT) also attracted fresh attention: 9.28% short, up +1.28%. Online discretionary only gets shorted like this when the market thinks demand and margin assumptions are too optimistic.
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
ACL was the cleanest “new money” move: 2.33% to 6.96% (+4.62%). Pathology is a scale business with constant pricing tension; a jump like this is the market putting earnings risk back on the table. Adriatic Metals (ADT) followed with a sharp lift: 2.89% to 6.99% (+4.09%). Single-asset developers heading toward production are built for short sellers — timelines, capex and commissioning surprises do the work for them. Uranium saw a two-pronged hit. LOT climbed from 3.88% to 7.16% (+3.28%) and PDN added +1.99% to 9.54%. Shorts targeting both a developer and a producer is a statement: they’re trading valuation and execution risk across the theme, not just picking off the weakest balance sheet. Karoon (KAR) moved up from 3.16% to 5.51% (+2.35%), a reminder that oil and gas names can flip from loved to leaned-on quickly when crude sentiment turns. (Karoon reporting context: https://www.karoonenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/251023-2025-third-quarter-results.pdf) On the covering side, WGX dominated (-9.94%). After that, the next biggest releases were Talga (TLG) 4.31% to 1.03% (-3.28%), Weebit Nano (WBT) 8.32% to 5.28% (-3.04%), Flight Centre (FLT) 9.67% to 6.85% (-2.82%), and Charter Hall (CHC) 3.11% to 0.87% (-2.24%). FLT’s cover says the “consumer cracks” short got less comfortable, while CHC’s cover tracks the simple truth about REIT shorts: yields drive the pain trade.
Industry Trends
Resources still run the table at the top: PLS, SYR, LTR, LYC, CHN, SYA and PDN sit in the top 10 most shorted. But the story shifted from “pile into lithium” to “rotate the risk”. Lithium remains heavily shorted (PLS 20.35%, LTR 10.70%, SYA 9.69%), yet PLS (-1.47%) and LTR (-0.90%) both saw shorts ease. The trade is crowded, not accelerating. The fresh aggression showed up in uranium (PDN +1.99%, LOT +3.28%) and in a so-called defensive (ACL +4.62%). That’s a month where shorts weren’t just chasing cyclicals — they were hunting for earnings disappointment wherever it might surface. Meanwhile, the unwind in CHC (-2.24% to 0.87%) fits a market that’s hypersensitive to bond yields: when rate pressure cools even a little, REIT shorts don’t hang around.
Outlook
Watch PDN’s short line next month: it’s at 9.54% now, and a push through 10% would confirm uranium has become a core institutional short, not a side bet. If that happens alongside LOT staying elevated at 7.16%, the whole uranium complex is the next pressure point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Pilbara Minerals (PLS) still the most shorted ASX stock?
Because 20.35% short is still a large bet that lithium pricing and realised margins stay weak; the -1.47% MoM move reads as trimming, not capitulation.
Why did Westgold (WGX) short interest collapse from 12.59% to 2.64%?
A drop of -9.94% in a month is consistent with a technical unwind (shorts closing), rather than a slow fundamental reassessment.
Is the jump in Australian Clinical Labs (ACL) short interest unusual?
Yes. ACL moved from 2.33% to 6.96% (+4.62%) in one month, which is a sharp shift in positioning for a mid-cap healthcare services stock.
Why are uranium stocks being shorted more (PDN and LOT)?
PDN rose to 9.54% short (+1.99%) and LOT to 7.16% (+3.28%), which points to traders focusing on valuation and execution risk across the uranium theme.
What does falling short interest in Charter Hall (CHC) suggest?
CHC fell from 3.11% to 0.87% (-2.24%). REIT shorts are highly sensitive to bond yields, and covering often follows any easing in rate pressure.
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.