The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 40, 2025
29 Sept 2025 — 3 Oct 2025
Shorts made a loud statement this week: Clinuvel (CUV) jumped from 6.40% to 11.94% short (+5.54%), easily the biggest move on the ASX short tape. Boss Energy (BOE) pushed to 19.18% short (+2.46%) — the highest short interest in the market — while uranium names broadly stayed in the crosshairs (PDN +0.75%, LOT +1.23%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
The week’s tell wasn’t a slow grind higher in short interest — it was a spike. CUV added 5.54% in a single week (6.40% → 11.94%). That’s not “sentiment shifting”; that’s a coordinated build. When a profitable, niche biotech gets hit like that, it usually means one thing: someone is positioning hard around a catalyst, or they think expectations have run ahead of reality.
BOE is now the most shorted stock on the ASX at 19.18%, up 2.46% WoW (16.73% → 19.18%). The likely read is uranium trade crowding: BOE is in ramp-up mode at Honeymoon and progressing Alta Mesa, and shorts tend to lean on execution risk when a stock is priced for smooth delivery. Any wobble in production timelines or costs is where this sort of short interest tries to make its money (see BOE materials linked via the company’s investor docs: http://www.bossenergy.com/images/media/2973720.pdf and http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf). PLS remains heavily shorted at 17.53%, but eased slightly (-0.31%). That’s consistent with lithium shorts staying put rather than pressing harder — the position is already big, and the marginal trade this week was elsewhere. If you want a clue on what the market is watching, PLS’s quarterly cadence matters (December quarterly advisory: https://1pls.irmau.com/site/pdf/3bba2523-52c7-4c38-bc03-b945945d9698/December-2025-quarterly-activities-report-advisory.pdf?Platform=ListPage). IEL (12.78%, -0.43%) continues to see shorts trim. That fits a market that’s less confident in the “structural downcycle” call and more focused on timing: student flows, visa settings, and currency impacts can swing quickly, and shorts don’t want to be caught if conditions stabilise. DMP (12.40%, +0.64%) is a classic earnings-positioning short. Cost pressures, discounting, and the risk of soft same-store sales are the usual ingredients, and the short tape says the market still doesn’t trust the turnaround narrative. PDN (12.01%, +0.75%) sits right behind BOE in the uranium complex. With PDN’s scale and asset base, shorts are likely leaning on valuation and integration/execution risk rather than “uranium is dead” (PDN annual report: https://www.paladinenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Paladin-2025AnnualReport-Full-Web.pdf).
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.
CUV is the headline mover: +5.54% WoW to 11.94%. With Clinuvel’s story tied to SCENESSE® and pipeline optionality, this kind of jump usually signals the market is questioning either growth durability or the timing/quality of future catalysts. If there’s a near-term update window, this looks like shorts trying to get ahead of it rather than react after the fact (CUV annual report: https://www.clinuvel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/clinuvel-ar25-digital-20250828.pdf). BOE’s +2.46% rise is big even by “popular short” standards. At 19.18%, it’s crowded — and crowded shorts can unwind violently on good operational news. LOT (+1.23% to 6.41%) adds to the uranium theme: shorts aren’t just picking on one name, they’re spreading across the curve into developers/restart stories where funding, permitting and restart execution can bite. On the cover side, LKY collapsed from 4.45% to 0.30% (-4.16%). That’s not a gentle de-risk; it’s an exit. In small caps, that often means borrow dried up, a corporate action risk emerged, or the trade simply worked and shorts banked it. DRO fell from 5.87% to 4.91% (-0.95%). Given DroneShield has been announcing contract momentum and product expansion, this looks like shorts respecting the risk of being caught short into defence-themed order flow (DRO report: https://www.droneshield.com/s/2025-3q-9acb.pdf).
Two sector stories dominate the tape. First: uranium is still the ASX’s favourite battleground. BOE (19.18%, +2.46%), PDN (12.01%, +0.75%) and LOT (6.41%, +1.23%) all saw shorts add. That’s a clear thesis: the market is challenging execution and valuation in a trade that’s been popular for a while. When multiple uranium names are rising together, it’s less about one company and more about the sector being priced for perfection. Second: consumer and growth names are being treated selectively. DMP (+0.64% to 12.40%) and GYG (+0.31% to 11.74%) show shorts still like the “margin pressure + valuation” setup in discretionary, while IEL’s small cover (-0.43%) suggests the education bear case is losing urgency. Zooming out, the market’s average short interest is only 1.31% across 613 stocks, and the period average change was basically flat (+0.03%). So when you see moves like CUV +5.54% or BOE +2.46%, they’re not noise — they’re the whole story.
Watch for company updates that can force a squeeze in crowded shorts — BOE at 19.18% is the obvious pressure point. And keep an eye on any CUV newsflow: after a +5.54% short jump, even a mildly positive update can move the stock sharply.
Boss Energy (BOE) is the most shorted at 19.18% of shares short, up 2.46% week-on-week.
Clinuvel (CUV) surged from 6.40% to 11.94% short, a +5.54% jump — the largest move in the report.
Yes. BOE (+2.46% to 19.18%), PDN (+0.75% to 12.01%) and LOT (+1.23% to 6.41%) all saw short interest rise, pointing to a sector-level execution/valuation bet.
Locksley Resources (LKY) dropped from 4.45% to 0.30% short (-4.16%), a sharp unwind rather than a gradual trim.
No. High short interest can reflect a bearish thesis, but it also raises squeeze risk if news surprises positively — especially in crowded names like BOE at 19.18%.
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.
