The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 3, 2024
15 Jan 2024 — 19 Jan 2024
Peninsula Energy (PEN) saw short interest collapse from 8.82% to 0.12% (-8.71%) in a single week — the biggest move on the tape by a mile. At the other end, the lithium complex stayed crowded: Pilbara Minerals (PLS) remains No.1 at 21.19% (+0.14%), while Syrah (SYR) climbed to 16.36% (+0.91%) and Sayona (SYA) to 11.37% (+1.10%). Market-wide positioning was flat (645 stocks shorted, average short 1.10%, period average change -0.02%), but single-name bets were anything but.
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
PEN didn’t drift lower. It fell off a cliff. Short interest went from 8.82% to 0.12% (-8.71%) in a week — the sort of print you get when a trade is forcibly unwound, a borrow disappears, or the register gets cleaned up. And it happened in a week where the broader short book barely moved (period average change -0.02%). This wasn’t macro. This was targeted.
PLS is still the market’s favourite battleground. At 21.19% short (+0.14%), more than one in five shares is sold short — not a fresh escalation this week, but an extreme level that tells you how many funds are using PLS as the liquid proxy for “lithium stays ugly”. Behind it, the battery-materials stack tightened: - SYR rose to 16.36% (+0.91%). That’s a big weekly add on an already crowded position. - CXO eased to 12.62% (-0.31%). Not a retreat from the thesis, just some trimming. - SYA jumped to 11.37% (+1.10%). When shorts pile into a smaller-cap lithium name that quickly, they’re leaning into funding and project-economics stress if pricing doesn’t lift. Outside the diggers, the shorts are more surgical: - IEL sits at 10.22% (+0.07%), a standing bet that policy settings and student flows can still bite. - FLT is steady at 8.35% (-0.01%) — the level says “debate”, the weekly change says “no-one’s blinking yet”. Rounding out the top 10: GMD 8.97% (+0.14%), DYL 8.67% (-1.15%), WBT 8.48% (+0.28%), and CHN 6.79% (+0.19%).
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.
The biggest fresh hit was APX: 4.36% → 6.25% (+1.88%). That’s a hard shove higher, and it came with extra corporate paper in the market’s line of sight (APX “Becoming a substantial holder” and “Notification of cessation of securities” filings: https://yourir.info/resources/396cdf0a32f7cb50/announcements/apx.asx/2A1499476/APX_Becoming_a_substantial_holder.pdf and https://yourir.info/resources/396cdf0a32f7cb50/announcements/apx.asx/2A1499479/APX_Notification_of_cessation_of_securities_APX.pdf). When shorts move that fast, they’re positioning for an event, not just a vibe. CIA also saw a clean build: 1.43% → 2.57% (+1.14%). It’s still low in absolute terms, but it’s a directional bet on a China-sensitive commodity. On the unwind side, LTR dropped 8.43% → 5.83% (-2.60%). That reads like profit-taking after a bruising run rather than a sudden love letter to lithium. DYL eased 9.83% → 8.67% (-1.15%), and SGR slipped 3.00% → 1.51% (-1.49%) — a meaningful cover in a name where regulatory and balance-sheet headlines can change the trade quickly. Then PEN. 8.82% → 0.12% (-8.71%). Whatever the driver, the short trade went from crowded to gone.
Resources still dominate the short book, and lithium is the centre of gravity. Four of the top five most shorted names are lithium-linked (PLS, SYR, CXO, SYA), and two of the five biggest risers were SYA (+1.10%) and SYR (+0.91%). The message is simple: shorts want maximum commodity leverage. But there’s a second theme: selective scepticism outside mining. APX’s jump shows the market is happy to short “AI picks and shovels” when revenue quality and customer concentration are questioned. Meanwhile, IEL and FLT stay structurally shorted because they’re exposed to policy settings and consumer confidence — exactly the stuff that gets repriced quickly when rates stay higher for longer.
Next week, watch whether PEN’s 0.12% holds — if it snaps back up, this week was technical; if it stays pinned, the short trade has genuinely been extinguished. In the crowded end of the pool, the tell will be SYR and SYA: another week of +0.5% to +1.0% adds would confirm the lithium short is still being pressed, not just maintained.
It usually reflects rapid position closure or a technical change in stock lending/borrow that forces shorts out, rather than a slow shift in fundamental views.
Because lithium equities have high leverage to the commodity price, and shorts are expressing the view that weak lithium pricing pressures margins, funding options and project economics—especially for smaller producers.
It’s a signal the stock is a crowded battleground. High short interest reflects heavy downside positioning, and it also increases the risk of sharp rallies if sentiment or news turns.
A +1.88% weekly lift is aggressive and typically points to event-driven positioning around earnings, strategy or balance-sheet risk, with extra attention drawn by recent ASX filings on ownership and securities changes.
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.
