The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 34, 2025
18 Aug 2025 — 22 Aug 2025
BOE is still the most shorted name on the ASX at 21.44%, but shorts trimmed it again (-0.63% WoW) while PDN crept higher to 18.71% (+0.31%). The real action was outside the top 10: IPH nearly doubled from 2.17% to 4.09% (+1.92%), while URW (+1.67%) and RWC (+1.51%) also saw sharp new short interest.
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
The week’s loudest signal wasn’t in uranium or lithium — it was IPH. Short interest jumped from 2.17% to 4.09% in a single week (+1.92%), which is a proper step-change for a ~$933m services business. When shorts move that fast in a “steady” name, it usually screams event-risk: leadership transition (CEO Andrew Blattman’s retirement) and post-result positioning after the FY25 print (see IPH FY25 Results: https://www.iphlimited.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2932588.pdf; CEO retirement release: https://www.iphlimited.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2978820.pdf).
At the top of the leaderboard, the uranium trade is still the most crowded. BOE sits at 21.44% short, even after another meaningful trim (-0.63% WoW). That combination — very high absolute shorting but steady covering — reads like shorts are taking profit or reducing risk rather than flipping bullish. BOE’s ramp-up story (Honeymoon and Alta Mesa) gives shorts a clear angle: execution risk and uranium price sensitivity (company materials: http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf). PDN is the opposite: short interest edged up to 18.71% (+0.31%). With PDN now a large-cap uranium proxy (market cap ~$5.6b) and a more complex asset base post its Fission acquisition, the short thesis is usually about valuation and delivery risk rather than “uranium is dead” (PDN annual report: https://www.paladinenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Paladin-2025AnnualReport-Full-Web.pdf). Lithium remains heavily shorted but the pressure eased at the margin. PLS is still huge at 14.85% short, yet shorts covered again (-0.50%). That’s consistent with a sector where the bear case (weak lithium pricing) is well-known and crowded, so any hint of stabilisation can force incremental covering. Outside resources, IEL is back in the crosshairs: 14.29% short and rising (+0.67%). This looks like a clean macro/micro mix — currency and student mobility sensitivity plus the market’s habit of leaning short into education names when policy risk or demand uncertainty rises. Healthcare growth risk is also being priced: PNV climbed to 12.22% (+0.56%). When shorts add into a medtech name at double-digit short interest, they’re usually betting on valuation compression or a stumble in sales momentum rather than a balance-sheet blow-up.
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 risers tell you where the market is hunting for fresh downside. IPH (+1.92%) is the standout. The most likely read is earnings/transition positioning: a CEO change can create a window for strategy resets, cost reinvestment, or guidance conservatism — all things shorts like to press right after a result (FY25 Results link above). URW (+1.67%, from 0.28% to 1.95%) is a classic rates trade. REITs are bond proxies; if yields back up or the RBA tone turns less friendly, shorts often reappear quickly in the big liquid property names. RWC (+1.51%) looks like cyclical/earnings risk positioning. It’s a global industrial with housing and construction sensitivity; if the market is getting nervous about demand rolling over, this is where shorts go because liquidity is good and the narrative is simple. MVF (+1.39%) suggests stock-specific scepticism. IVF operators can be hit by regulatory headlines, pricing pressure, or volume volatility — and shorts tend to move early when they think the next update could disappoint. On the cover side, the tape is kinder to higher-beta “story” materials. NVX was smashed lower in short interest (4.88% to 3.37%, -1.51%). That’s a big unwind and fits a risk-on rotation into battery materials or a view that the downside is already well-owned. ZIP also saw a sharp cover (-1.43% to 2.57%), which lines up with the market easing off consumer credit shorts when the macro doesn’t deteriorate as feared (recent ZIP security notices: https://yourir.info/ezapi/announcements/dbc6d3e76afbc820/2A1648337/ZIP_Notification_of_cessation_of_securities_ZIP.pdf). ARU (-1.43% to 1.85%) and IGO (-1.34% to 4.06%) both saw meaningful covering — a sign the market is less confident pressing the “critical minerals downcycle” trade right here, right now.
Two sector patterns jump out. First: uranium is still the ASX’s favourite battleground. BOE (21.44%) and PDN (18.71%) are both extreme by any standard, and SLX is also elevated at 8.91%. That clustering says the market is split: bulls are leaning on the nuclear build-out narrative, while shorts are leaning on execution risk, valuation, and the fact that commodity-linked momentum trades can reverse fast. Second: the materials complex is rotating from “pile in” to “manage the risk”. PLS and IGO both saw covering, and ARU was heavily covered too. That doesn’t mean the cycle has turned — it means the easy money on the short side may have been made, and now the market wants cleaner catalysts before adding again. Meanwhile, rate sensitivity is creeping back into positioning (URW up, LIC still high at 11.58%). If bond yields rise, these are the names that tend to wear it quickly because the valuation maths changes overnight.
Watch for macro catalysts that hit rates and commodities at the same time: any shift in RBA tone will feed straight into URW/LIC positioning, while uranium and lithium shorts will keep trading off commodity price moves and the next round of company updates (BOE and PDN remain the crowded tells).
BOE is still at 21.44% short because it’s a high-beta uranium producer with real execution risk, but the -0.63% WoW move suggests some shorts are taking profit or reducing exposure rather than doubling down.
Yes — moving from 2.17% to 4.09% in a week is unusually sharp for a services name and points to event-driven positioning, likely tied to the FY25 result and CEO transition (see FY25 Results: https://www.iphlimited.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/2932588.pdf).
It usually means shorts are closing positions (locking in gains or cutting risk), which can reduce selling pressure and sometimes fuels short-covering rallies if buyers step in.
REITs are sensitive to bond yields; when the market worries about rates staying higher for longer, shorts often target liquid property names because higher yields can compress valuations.
No — it means there’s a large cohort betting against it. If the company delivers better-than-feared news, high short interest can amplify upside via short covering; if bad news hits, the downside can be sharp because sentiment is already negative.
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.
