The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 39, 2024
23 Sept 2024 — 27 Sept 2024
The ASX short book barely moved overall (period average change: -0.04%), but uranium lit up: BOE jumped to 12.52% (+1.63%) and PDN to 13.49% (+1.11%). PLS still wears the crown at 19.26% (-0.55%), while CTT saw the week’s sharpest unwind to 8.88% (-2.41%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
Lithium still owns the top line, but this week’s tell was elsewhere. Shorts hit the uranium complex in tandem — BOE up +1.63% to 12.52% and PDN up +1.11% to 13.49%. Fast. Coordinated.
PLS remains the most shorted stock on the ASX at 19.26%, even after a trim of -0.55%. The trade is crowded, but it’s not leaving — the market is still leaning against hard-rock lithium margins and pricing power. IEL is steady and heavy at 14.28% (-0.15%). No drama in the weekly change, which is exactly the point: it’s a structural short that didn’t get a fresh shove this week. Then the uranium pair: PDN at 13.49% (+1.11%) and BOE at 12.52% (+1.63%). When shorts add size to both in the same week, it reads as sector positioning plus execution pressure. BOE’s story is ramp-up and delivery — Honeymoon in South Australia and Alta Mesa in Texas — the phase where expectations are high and timelines matter (Boss Energy materials: http://www.bossenergy.com/images/media/2973720.pdf and http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf). MIN is the other meaningful build inside the top 10: 13.16% short, up +0.92% in a week. That’s a big weekly move for a $10.7B name and it fits the current playbook: capital intensity plus commodity sensitivity gets punished when the tape turns unforgiving. At the other end of the top 10, CTT is still heavily shorted at 8.88% — but the -2.41% weekly drop was a clean unwind, not a gentle drift. Someone took risk off in 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.
The risers were led by BOE (10.89% → 12.52%, +1.63%) and PDN (12.38% → 13.49%, +1.11%). Add MIN (12.23% → 13.16%, +0.92%) and you’ve got a clear cluster: shorts are paying for “execution + commodity” risk, not chasing random single-stock blow-ups. RIO moving from 5.44% to 6.28% (+0.85%) is the week’s macro flare. You don’t get a +0.85% lift in short interest in a $58.3B major by accident — it’s a liquid way to express a view on bulk commodities and global growth sensitivity, with the added overlay of big miners spending into new-energy materials (Rio’s 2024 annual report: https://cdn-rio.dataweavers.io/-/media/content/documents/invest/reports/annual-reports/2024-annual-report.pdf?rev=af45e9c438764f07ab7944c263ca3615). WHC also saw shorts lift from 2.06% to 2.90% (+0.84%). It’s not a high absolute number, but the weekly change says traders are leaning into the coal price tape. On the cover side, CTT (11.30% → 8.88%, -2.41%) and FBU (4.34% → 2.29%, -2.05%) were the standouts. DMP eased from 5.98% to 5.08% (-0.90%), a sign some traders are taking money off the table in consumer names rather than pressing the “household stress” trade harder. CHN (8.89% → 7.70%, -1.19%) and BGL (6.99% → 6.13%, -0.86%) also saw shorts cut back.
Resources still dominate the crowded end of the short book: PLS (19.26%), MIN (13.16%), LTR (9.94%), plus the uranium stack — PDN (13.49%), BOE (12.52%) and DYL (8.74%). But the weekly story was rotation inside Materials and Energy, not a market-wide risk-off. Across 643 stocks, the average short position is 1.20% and the period average change was -0.04%. The split inside uranium matters: BOE and PDN were hit hard, while DYL barely moved (-0.19% to 8.74%). Shorts weren’t selling “uranium” in general — they were targeting the names where ramp-up expectations and valuation sensitivity are highest. Meanwhile, the unwind in CTT and the reduction in DMP suggest some of the heat has come out of crowded consumer shorts, at least for now.
Watch one thing next week: whether BOE and PDN keep building from here. If both push higher again (after +1.63% and +1.11% this week), it confirms the market is pressing uranium execution risk — and that trade is spreading, not peaking.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) at 19.26% short, down -0.55% week-on-week.
Boss Energy (BOE): 10.89% to 12.52%, a +1.63% increase.
PDN (+1.11% to 13.49%) and BOE (+1.63% to 12.52%) rising together points to sector-level positioning plus scrutiny on production ramp-ups and delivery timelines.
RIO moved from 5.44% to 6.28% (+0.85%). For a mega-cap, that’s a meaningful weekly change and a common way institutions express a macro view on bulk commodities and growth sensitivity.
Cettire (CTT): 11.30% to 8.88%, a -2.41% drop.
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.
