The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 34, 2024
19 Aug 2024 — 23 Aug 2024
The market barely moved on aggregate (period average change: -0.02%), but positioning did. Westgold (WGX) saw a brutal short-cover from 7.34% to 3.88% (-3.46%), while Corporate Travel (CTD) wore the biggest new hit, jumping from 3.59% to 5.18% (+1.59%). Pilbara Minerals (PLS) still tops the table at 20.93% short, even after a small trim (-0.49%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
A 3.46% short-interest collapse in a week is a scramble, not a rebalance. Westgold (WGX) went from 7.34% short to 3.88%, and that kind of air-pocket usually shows up when the short side decides the trade is done — or the risk of staying short has become too expensive.
PLS remains the centre of gravity for the whole short book: 20.93% short, down 0.49% week-on-week. That’s still the market’s loudest expression of the lithium downcycle. IEL holds #2 at 13.27% (+0.06%). The weekly move is tiny, but the position is not — shorts are still sitting on the international education thesis. SYR is the one pushing higher near the top end: 12.52% (+0.43%). While lithium shorts eased, graphite shorts added. Across the critical minerals complex, there was more covering than piling-in: LYC at 10.83% (-0.42%) and CHN at 10.22% (-0.56%) both saw shorts trim. Energy stayed lively. STX is still heavily shorted at 10.77% (+0.04%), and PDN ticked up to 9.94% (+0.59%). Uranium shorts adding while lithium shorts ease tells you positioning is rotating inside resources, not leaving it.
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.
CTD was the week’s cleanest “someone’s putting size on” move: 3.59% → 5.18% (+1.59%). Travel is cyclical and sentiment turns fast when the market starts questioning corporate budgets and margin durability. If you want the company’s own framing of conditions and risks, start with its FY24 annual report: https://investor.travelctm.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-Annual-Report-web.pdf NUF followed with a sharp lift: 6.57% → 7.71% (+1.14%). Ag-chem is a margin game (inputs, pricing, seasonality), and this is shorts leaning into near-term earnings pressure. Two food names also attracted fresh shorts: ING rose from 1.56% to 2.63% (+1.06%), and A2M climbed from 4.05% to 5.04% (+0.99%). For A2M context, its 1H25 results presentation is here: https://assets-au-01.kc-usercontent.com:443/bca3e5d5-83bd-02bf-1c27-acb036630e5b/ce497dba-b5aa-4d11-9ac8-3feb20ffc45b/1H25%20Results%20presentation%20%28Final%29.pdf MP1 also saw shorts add: 2.81% → 3.76% (+0.95%). Growth names still get tested quarter by quarter; the short book keeps a seat at the table. MP1’s H1 FY25 investor presentation: https://www.megaport.com/pdf/MP1_H1_FY25_Half_Year_Results_Investor_Presentation.pdf On the covering side, WGX dominated (-3.46%). LRS also saw a big unwind, 5.59% → 3.19% (-2.40%), consistent with shorts stepping back from smaller resources positions when the crowding gets uncomfortable. Rates-sensitive and crowded trades also got de-risked: CHC fell from 2.31% to 0.95% (-1.36%). LTR dropped from 11.96% to 10.60% (-1.36%), and TPW eased from 3.03% to 2.06% (-0.96%).
Resources still dominate the top end of the table — PLS (20.93%), SYR (12.52%), LYC (10.83%), LTR (10.60%), CHN (10.22%), SYA (9.64%). But this week wasn’t “short more lithium”. It was “take some chips off”. PLS, LTR, LYC and CHN all saw covering. At the same time, shorts went hunting outside the pit: CTD and NUF were the two biggest adds, with ING and A2M following. That’s a rotation from commodity beta into earnings risk — the kind that shows up when the market wants company-specific disappointments rather than another leg down in a single macro trade. One more tell: REIT shorts were covered hard in CHC (-1.36%). When that happens alongside new shorts in cyclicals, it reads like positioning is getting more selective, not more bearish overall.
Watch CTD’s next result/update: short interest jumped to 5.18% in one week. If CTD prints clean numbers, that 1.59% build is the most obvious squeeze set-up on the board.
Westgold (WGX): 7.34% to 3.88%, a fall of 3.46% week-on-week.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) at 20.93% short (week-on-week change: -0.49%).
CTD rose from 3.59% to 5.18% (+1.59%), which is typical of traders positioning for an earnings or outlook downgrade in a cyclical business exposed to corporate travel budgets.
Slightly at the margin: PLS fell 0.49% to 20.93% and LTR fell 1.36% to 10.60%, but lithium remains heavily shorted overall.
It usually means short sellers are buying back stock to close positions (profit-taking or risk reduction), as seen in WGX falling 3.46% in a week.
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.
