The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 11, 2025
10 Mar 2025 — 14 Mar 2025
Boss Energy (BOE) is now the ASX’s most shorted stock at 23.11%, up +0.90% in a week — a deliberate press, not a passive hedge. The uranium complex is splitting (PDN -0.50%, DYL -0.14% vs BOE +0.90%), while the biggest fresh builds hit cyclicals and event-risk names: MMS +1.27% to 4.27%, CTD +1.25% to 6.40%, OPT +1.17% to 4.46%. Across 667 stocks the average short position barely moved (+0.02%), so the signal is in the stock-specific swings.
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
23.11%. That’s how much of Boss Energy (BOE) is now sold short — the highest on the ASX this week — and it still climbed another +0.90% WoW. Shorts didn’t flinch. They added.
The top of the table is telling you the market’s favourite argument right now: execution risk in resources, with uranium and lithium doing most of the heavy lifting. BOE leads at 23.11% (+0.90%). When a $660M producer-in-ramp-up wears the biggest short on the market, it’s not a commodity call alone — it’s a bet that delivery won’t match the narrative. Boss has been outlining progress at Honeymoon and Alta Mesa in its investor material (http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf). The short position says the market wants operating proof, not another deck. Paladin (PDN) stays heavily shorted at 17.52%, but shorts trimmed (-0.50%). Deep Yellow (DYL) also eased to 12.01% (-0.14%). Same commodity. Different targets. That’s the theme: the uranium short is getting selective, not broad-brush. For Paladin’s own framing on strategy and risk, the annual report is here: https://www.paladinenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Paladin-2025AnnualReport-Full-Web.pdf. Lithium remains crowded, but the pressure is uneven. Pilbara Minerals (PLS) is 12.03% short (-0.47%) — covering in the big liquid bellwether. Mineral Resources (MIN) moved the other way to 11.32% (+0.38%), which reads like a more nuanced earnings/balance-sheet sensitivity trade than a simple “lithium down” view. MIN’s results pack is the reference point: https://cdn.sanity.io/files/o6ep64o3/production/b23c9b1f93dbe5cc41520061cafecf0c1d214c77.pdf. Outside resources, the shorts keep leaning into rate-and-consumer sensitivity: Domino’s (DMP) at 11.36% (+0.43%) and Lifestyle Communities (LIC) at 10.17% (+0.32%). If the market keeps pricing sticky rates, these are the kinds of earnings that get marked down first.
Key financial metrics from recent company reports for the most shorted stocks.
Stocks with the largest increase in short interest this week.
Stocks with the largest decrease in short interest this week.
This week’s real information is in the movers — where new conviction showed up fast. MMS was the biggest riser: 3.00% → 4.27% (+1.27%). Salary packaging and vehicle finance don’t need a recession to disappoint; they just need demand to soften or margins to get squeezed. Shorts piled in quickly. CTD followed: 5.14% → 6.40% (+1.25%). Corporate travel is pure cycle. When the market starts thinking growth is peaking, CTD is an easy place to express it. The company’s debt facility amendment disclosure gives analysts fresh numbers to model (https://investor.travelctm.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Agreement-to-Amend-Debt-Facilities.pdf). OPT: 3.28% → 4.46% (+1.17%). Classic biotech positioning — shorts move ahead of binary milestones and funding questions. Opthea’s Phase 3 program is the whole story. CHN: 4.85% → 5.83% (+0.98%). Development-stage resources attracts shorts when capex, permitting and commodity assumptions can move valuation violently. Chalice’s Gonneville pre-feasibility work is laid out here: https://chalicemining.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/61302010.pdf. LTM: 1.12% → 2.07% (+0.95%). Shorts are waking up to valuation and integration complexity in lithium exposures, even as some of the older, crowded shorts get trimmed elsewhere. On the cover side, DroneShield (DRO) was the standout: 6.73% → 4.92% (-1.81%). That’s not a drift — that’s a decision to get out of the way. Whether it’s profit-taking or fear of the next contract headline, the risk/reward for staying short clearly changed. DroneShield’s reporting is here: https://www.droneshield.com/s/2025-3q-9acb.pdf. Syrah (SYR) also saw a big unwind: 11.29% → 9.54% (-1.75%). Nickel Industries (NIC) eased 3.59% → 2.76% (-0.83%). The battery-materials short isn’t gone; it’s being resized.
Two rotations matter. First, uranium is still dominating the top end — BOE (23.11%), PDN (17.52%), DYL (12.01%) — but the flow is now stock-picking. Shorts reduced PDN and DYL while pressing BOE harder. That’s a direct vote on execution risk and timing, not a blanket call on the commodity. Second, the market is spreading its shorts beyond rocks into earnings-leverage businesses. The biggest weekly builds were in services and cyclicals (MMS, CTD), while consumer/rate sensitivity kept grinding higher (DMP, LIC). Meanwhile, the average short across 667 stocks was only 1.23% and the period average change was +0.02% — a calm surface with sharp currents underneath.
Watch BOE’s short position next week: if it pushes beyond 23.11% again, the market is doubling down on the ramp-up bet. One catalyst matters most — the next BOE operational update — because at this level of crowding, the move won’t be small.
It means 23.11% of BOE’s shares on issue are reported as sold short. In this report it’s the highest short position on the ASX (max short %: 23.11%), and it rose +0.90% WoW.
This week’s data shows a selective uranium trade: PDN fell to 17.52% (-0.50%) and DYL fell to 12.01% (-0.14%), while BOE rose to 23.11% (+0.90%). That points to stock-specific execution/valuation positioning rather than a single commodity-wide view.
Yes. DRO fell from 6.73% to 4.92% (-1.81%) in one week, the largest reduction in the fallers list, which is consistent with meaningful short covering.
CTD rose 5.14% → 6.40% (+1.25%) and MMS rose 3.00% → 4.27% (+1.27%). Both are economically sensitive businesses, so short sellers often increase positions when they want exposure to a slowing-growth or margin-pressure thesis.
No. The average short % across 667 stocks was 1.23% and the period average change was +0.02%, but several individual names moved by more than 1% WoW (MMS +1.27%, CTD +1.25%, OPT +1.17%, DRO -1.81%, SYR -1.75%).
Track the live rankings on the most shorted ASX stocks page, watch short squeeze candidates, or see market-wide totals in the ASX short selling statistics.
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.
