The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 15, 2024
8 Apr 2024 — 12 Apr 2024
Shorts added hard to Pilbara Minerals (PLS), pushing it to 21.38% short (+0.89% WoW) — still the market’s biggest, cleanest lithium proxy. The strangest tape was Paladin Energy (PDN): short interest collapsed from 3.18% to 0.02% (-3.16%). Away from the headline names, Elders (ELD) wore the biggest hit, jumping from 2.15% to 4.50% (+2.35%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
PLS at 21.38% short isn’t a hedge anymore. It’s a position. And while lithium shorts piled in, uranium did the opposite: PDN went from 3.18% short to 0.02% in a week. That’s not a change of heart — that’s the exit door.
1) PLS (21.38%, +0.89%) The market’s most shorted stock got more crowded. A +0.89% weekly add on a $13.4B name is intent: funds want lithium downside exposure, and they want it in size and liquidity. PLS remains the easiest way to express scepticism on realised pricing and near-term margins across the spodumene complex. 2) IEL (14.82%, -0.18%) A small ease, but still a heavy short. The positioning reads like a standing bet against earnings momentum in international education — policy risk and student mobility sensitivity keep it in the penalty box. 3) SYR (13.45%, -0.74%) Shorts trimmed meaningfully. In battery materials, SYR often wears execution and funding risk; a -0.74% move says some traders are taking risk off rather than pressing. 4) FLT (11.07%, +0.15%) Still a crowded short, still a macro tell. Travel is discretionary and cyclical; higher-for-longer rates keep the market leaning against anything tied to consumer confidence. FLT’s recent moves to broaden the offer (including the Iglu Cruise acquisition) don’t stop the short book from treating it as a clean “spend slows” expression. 5) LTR (10.13%, +0.02%) Basically unchanged — but the message is in the level, not the weekly move. Battery materials remain the easiest place for shorts to camp. The sleeper in the top 10 was BOQ (7.85%, +0.77%). That’s a sharp weekly lift for a bank and reads like a rates-and-credit trade: deposit competition plus impairment risk is where regional banks get tested 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.
Biggest risers — where shorts piled in - ELD: 2.15% → 4.50% (+2.35%) That’s the week’s most aggressive build. For a “boring” agribusiness, it’s a loud move: funds are positioning for cyclical pain — farm incomes, weather, input costs and livestock cycles are the usual levers. - CUV: 4.08% → 5.87% (+1.78%) A healthcare name doesn’t usually see a jump like this without a valuation/pipeline debate heating up. If you want the company’s own framing, start with Clinuvel’s annual report: https://annualreport.clinuvel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ar-2024-published-240829.pdf - SGR: 1.67% → 2.86% (+1.19%) Shorts lifted into a stock where the market prices regulatory and balance-sheet stress first, and asks questions later. - ZIP: 2.00% → 2.89% (+0.88%) A steady re-crowding in a consumer-credit exposed name — the kind of trade that stays sensitive to rates and arrears headlines. Biggest fallers — the clean-up trade - PDN: 3.18% → 0.02% (-3.16%) This is the week’s most extreme move across the board. When short interest goes to near-zero that fast, it’s mechanical: borrow changes, risk limits, or a specific trade closing. It’s not a gentle sentiment shift. - DVP: 3.97% → 1.51% (-2.47%) A decisive de-crowding. Shorts took chips off the table rather than fight it. - NAN: 6.33% → 4.34% (-1.99%) Another meaningful cover. The company’s reporting pack is here for anyone tracking the fundamentals: http://www.nanosonics.com/media/qsddlk5a/nanosonics_annual-report-2025_fa_web.pdf - GMD: 7.66% → 6.62% (-1.04%) Gold shorts eased. Genesis’ FY2025 annual report is here: https://gmd.live.irmau.com/pdf/dd4d1488-1cd0-4f66-a7df-34b4d6fc6974/FY2025-Annual-Report.pdf?Platform=ListPage - BPT: 1.81% → 1.00% (-0.81%) Energy shorts trimmed — a small move, but consistent with traders reducing exposure into commodity tape volatility.
The ASX short book is still telling the same story: battery materials is the battleground. Four lithium-linked names sit in the top 10: PLS (21.38%), LTR (10.13%), CXO (8.26%) and SYA (7.19%). Even with CXO down slightly (-0.10%) and LTR flat (+0.02%), the sector remains the preferred hunting ground because it’s a single macro thesis expressed through multiple liquid tickers. Outside resources, rate sensitivity is the other through-line. BOQ’s jump to 7.85% (+0.77%) and LIC sitting at 7.31% (+0.06%) fit a market that still wants to lean against earnings exposed to higher funding costs and a cautious consumer. And keep the baseline in mind: across 674 stocks, average short interest is 1.03% and the period average change was +0.01%. When something moves +2.35% in a week (ELD) or sits above 20% (PLS), it’s a deliberate bet.
Watch PLS and BOQ next week for follow-through: does PLS build again from 21.38%, and does BOQ keep climbing from 7.85%? If either stalls, it’s the first sign the short book is taking profit rather than pressing.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) is the most shorted at 21.38%, up +0.89% week-on-week.
Paladin Energy (PDN) fell from 3.18% short to 0.02% (-3.16%), which is effectively a full unwind.
Yes. Lithium-linked names in the top 10 include PLS (21.38%), LTR (10.13%), CXO (8.26%) and SYA (7.19%), and PLS added another +0.89% this week.
BOQ rose from 7.08% to 7.85% short (+0.77%) in a single week, a sizeable move that points to active positioning around bank earnings risk in a higher-rate environment.
Clinuvel’s annual report is available at https://annualreport.clinuvel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ar-2024-published-240829.pdf.
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.
