The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 38, 2024
16 Sept 2024 — 20 Sept 2024
PLS still wears the crown at 19.81% short, but the position eased (-0.57%) as the lithium short gets more tactical. The fresh aggression was elsewhere: MIN jumped to 12.23% (+1.63%) and uranium names saw a clear lift — PDN to 12.38% (+1.36%), BOE to 10.89% (+0.96%), DYL to 8.93% (+0.34%). Across 637 stocks, average short interest was 1.24% and the period average change was +0.02%.
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
PLS at 19.81% short is still a billboard for lithium scepticism — but the real tell this week was where the new money went. Shorts didn’t add to the biggest crowd. They shifted firepower into MIN and the uranium complex. Fast.
1) Pilbara Minerals (PLS) remains the most shorted stock at 19.81%, but the position shrank by 0.57% week-on-week. That’s not capitulation — it’s trimming. When the sector trade is crowded, the first move is usually to reduce size in the most liquid hedge. 2) IDP Education (IEL) sits at 14.43% (+0.30%). The market is still using IEL as a clean proxy for uncertainty around international student flows and policy risk. 3) Syrah Resources (SYR) is steady-high at 12.57% (+0.15%). It’s the kind of short that tends to stick unless there’s a hard catalyst. 4) The big shift inside the top 10 was uranium and MIN. - Paladin Energy (PDN) lifted to 12.38% (+1.36%). - Boss Energy (BOE) rose to 10.89% (+0.96%). - Deep Yellow (DYL) ticked up to 8.93% (+0.34%). This reads like shorts policing execution and timelines as much as price — BOE’s ramp narrative is front and centre in its materials (Dec24 Quarterly Results Presentation: http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf). 5) Mineral Resources (MIN) was the week’s statement: 12.23% short, up 1.63% in a single week. That’s not background noise. That’s a trade being put on in size in a large, liquid resources name with multiple commodity sensitivities. For the company’s own framing, start with its results pack (2025 Full Year Results: https://cdn.sanity.io/files/o6ep64o3/production/b23c9b1f93dbe5cc41520061cafecf0c1d214c77.pdf). 6) Cettire (CTT) also moved higher in the top 10 to 11.30% (+1.03%), keeping discretionary retail risk on the short menu.
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 adding): - Clarity Pharma (CU6): 0.13% → 1.80% (+1.67%). In clinical-stage biotech, that sort of jump is classic event-risk positioning — trial headlines and funding risk can gap a chart in either direction. - DroneShield (DRO): 0.56% → 2.23% (+1.67%). With a $2.9B market cap, that’s a meaningful build. Momentum sectors attract shorts when valuation meets contract-timing reality (see: https://www.droneshield.com/s/2025-3q-9acb.pdf). - Mineral Resources (MIN): 10.60% → 12.23% (+1.63%). The market’s most decisive add. - Spartan Resources (SPR): 0.30% → 1.87% (+1.57%). Smaller resources names can see short interest jump quickly when traders fade a run or position for funding risk. - Fletcher Building (FBU): 2.84% → 4.34% (+1.50%). Biggest fallers (shorts covering): - Core Lithium (CXO): 4.65% → 1.96% (-2.69%). That’s a clean exit, not a trim. It looks like profit-taking and risk control in a trade that’s been heavily trafficked. Company reporting links: June Quarterly Activities Report (https://www.datocms-assets.com/106701/1753838941-cxo_quarterly_activities_and_cashflow_report-30-july-2025.pdf) and Half-year Report (https://www.datocms-assets.com/106701/1750991684-cxo_core_lithium_half-year_report.pdf). - Strike Energy (STX): 9.70% → 7.28% (-2.42%). A sizeable de-risking move in a stock where project/partner news can move fast. - Calix (CXL): 5.02% → 3.26% (-1.77%). Shorts stepped back from higher-beta “green tech” exposure. - Sayona Mining (SYA): 9.67% → 8.53% (-1.14%). - GDI Property Group (GDI): 1.87% → 0.73% (-1.13%). REIT shorts are often a rates call; covering here fits with traders taking risk off that theme. GDI’s asset sale update is here: https://www.gdi.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/02982096.pdf and results presentation: https://www.gdi.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/02982789.pdf.
Resources still dominate the leaderboard, but the behaviour changed. Lithium remains the market’s favourite punching bag (PLS 19.81%, LTR 10.35%, plus MIN’s lithium exposure), yet the week’s biggest tells were the covers: CXO (-2.69%) and SYA (-1.14%). Shorts are still in the theme, but they’re rotating out of smaller names and concentrating risk where liquidity is deepest. At the same time, uranium shorts built across the complex: PDN (+1.36%), BOE (+0.96%), DYL (+0.34%), with BOE and PDN both sitting inside the top 10. That’s the market shifting from “nuclear narrative” to “show me the ramp”. Outside resources, CTT’s move to 11.30% (+1.03%) keeps consumer discretionary on watch: when the macro gets tight, shorts like businesses where demand can fall away quickly.
Watch MIN next week: if short interest keeps climbing from 12.23% after a +1.63% jump, the market is positioning for a near-term catalyst rather than running a slow hedge. Second, track whether PDN’s short build continues from 12.38% — that’s the cleanest read on whether the uranium fade is getting real size behind it.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) at 19.81% short, down 0.57% week-on-week.
Clarity Pharma (CU6) and DroneShield (DRO) tied for the biggest increase, each up +1.67 percentage points (CU6 to 1.80%, DRO to 2.23%).
MIN rose from 10.60% to 12.23% (+1.63%) in a week, which is consistent with traders putting on size ahead of a near-term catalyst and leaning into earnings/guidance and execution risk in a large, commodity-exposed name.
Shorts added across PDN (12.38%, +1.36%), BOE (10.89%, +0.96%) and DYL (8.93%, +0.34%), which typically reflects the market focusing on delivery risk around production ramps and project timelines.
CXO fell from 4.65% to 1.96% (-2.69%), which usually signals shorts taking profit or stepping aside rather than a definitive change in fundamentals.
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.
