Shorts pile into MIN and uranium — while the PLS trade starts to unwind

This Week's Analysis

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.

Movers Analysis

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.