The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 32, 2024
5 Aug 2024 — 9 Aug 2024
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) stays the ASX’s most shorted stock at 22.35% (+0.19% WoW), with the top 10 still dominated by Materials. The week’s cleanest signal was Adriatic Metals (ADT) ripping from 2.96% to 5.84% (+2.87%), while Alcoa (AAI) saw a brutal unwind from 5.57% to 1.29% (-4.27%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
PLS at 22.35% short is familiar. ADT jumping +2.87% in a week isn’t. When short interest nearly doubles from 2.96% to 5.84%, the market is trading a catalyst — and in developers, that usually means execution risk and funding nerves get priced before the good-news slide deck does.
1) PLS: 22.35% (+0.19%) The crown stays put. PLS remains the most liquid lithium proxy on the ASX, so when the lithium tape is weak, shorts don’t muck around — they hit the biggest door. 2) IEL: 12.82% (-0.18%) A small trim, not a surrender. With IEL still sitting at #2, the market is keeping a live position in anything exposed to policy headlines and student flows. 3) LTR: 11.88% (+0.23%) Lithium stays crowded. Shorts are still leaning against the idea that a sector rebound is imminent. 4) SYR: 11.85% (+1.12%) This is the loud one. A +1.12% lift on an already-high base is shorts pressing their bet in a higher-risk materials name where operational outcomes and pricing can swing fast. 5) CHN: 11.42% (+0.26%) The market keeps selling the timeline. Long-dated development stories attract shorts when capex, approvals and delivery risk feel like the real variables. 6) LYC: 11.27% (+0.65%) Rare earths are strategically fashionable; margins still have to show up. Shorts added meaningfully here. 7) STX: 10.47% (+0.78%) A sharp weekly build. Smaller energy developers wear short interest when the market wants proof on project delivery and funding, not ambition. 8) CTT: 10.00% (-0.12%) A modest de-risk. For a $193m retailer, even small moves matter — but this week was more tidy-up than conviction. 9) SYA: 9.90% (+0.18%) Another lithium name staying sticky in the top 10. The sector’s short base isn’t clearing. 10) PDN: 9.01% (+0.87%) A near-1% weekly lift is a statement. Shorts are leaning against uranium momentum and/or pricing volatility, and they’re doing it with size.
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 (shorts piled in): - ADT: 2.96% → 5.84% (+2.87%) Adriatic is pushing the Vares Project towards production. That’s exactly when the market starts stress-testing ramp-up risk, costs and the path to steady-state output — especially with silver/zinc price swings sitting in the background. - GYG: 0.48% → 2.07% (+1.59%) The honeymoon trade is over. Once the IPO froth settles, shorts show up to interrogate the multiple: wage costs, store economics and how much growth is already priced in. - SYR: 10.72% → 11.85% (+1.12%) A second hit in the same week: high base, big add. This is positioning, not noise. - SBM: 0.69% → 1.71% (+1.02%) - BGL: 5.56% → 6.58% (+1.02%) Gold shorts are creeping up. This reads as company-level delivery risk rather than a call on the gold price itself. Biggest fallers (short covering): - AAI: 5.57% → 1.29% (-4.27%) That’s a trade being shut down. When short interest collapses like this, the catalyst has passed or the position got too crowded and the exit door got busy. - DRO: 1.36% → 0.12% (-1.24%) Shorts basically left the building. With contract-driven defence names, positioning can flip quickly when momentum turns supportive. - FLT: 9.79% → 8.86% (-0.92%) A meaningful cover, but still heavily shorted. The market is trimming exposure, not abandoning the thesis. - TLG: 2.82% → 1.92% (-0.90%) Some pressure coming off smaller battery-materials exposures, even as the big lithium shorts stay entrenched. - AGL: 3.42% → 2.74% (-0.68%) Steady cover. In a market that’s picking its battles, defensives can force shorts to reassess the risk/reward.
This is still a Materials tape. Seven of the top 10 are diggers, and the crowding is extreme at the top end: PLS at 22.35% sets the tone, with LTR (11.88%), SYR (11.85%), CHN (11.42%), LYC (11.27%) and SYA (9.90%) keeping battery/critical minerals front and centre. But the more useful read this week is where shorts are spreading, not where they’re already camped. ADT’s +2.87% jump is the cleanest “execution story” trade on the board, and PDN’s +0.87% lift says the energy-transition short isn’t just batteries anymore. Outside resources, Consumer Services is getting two very different treatments: IEL is still a big, sticky short at 12.82% even after a -0.18% trim, while GYG is now on the radar at 2.07% after a +1.59% surge. The market stats underline how concentrated this all is: 649 stocks shorted, average short interest 1.20%, and the period average change just +0.04%. The crowd isn’t shorting everything. It’s shorting specific battlegrounds.
Watch ADT’s short interest next week. After a one-week jump from 2.96% to 5.84%, a second leg higher would confirm the market is leaning hard into a near-term catalyst around Vares execution — and that’s when price moves start getting sharp.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) is the most shorted at 22.35% of shares shorted (week-on-week change: +0.19%).
Adriatic Metals (ADT) rose from 2.96% to 5.84% short, an increase of +2.87%.
Lithium exposure remains crowded in the top 10 via PLS (22.35%), Liontown (LTR, 11.88%) and Sayona (SYA, 9.90%), showing shorts are still positioned for ongoing uncertainty in lithium pricing and demand.
Alcoa Corporation CDI (AAI) fell from 5.57% short to 1.29%, a decrease of -4.27%.
Yes. FLT fell from 9.79% to 8.86% short (-0.92%), which remains high versus the market average short interest of 1.20%.
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.
