The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 41, 2024
7 Oct 2024 — 11 Oct 2024
PLS still wears the crown at 19.06% short (-0.14% WoW), but the week belonged to BOE: up +0.85% to 14.19% and now the ASX’s second most shorted stock. Outside resources, shorts added to DMP (7.16%, +0.80%) and SGR (6.37%, +0.68%), while the cleanest cover was NUF (5.69%, -1.36%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
BOE just printed a +0.85% weekly jump in short interest. That’s not drift — that’s intent. With BOE now 14.19% short, the market’s loudest message this week is that uranium execution risk is back on the menu.
PLS remains the market’s biggest short at 19.06% (down -0.14%). The position is still enormous, and the tiny trim reads like maintenance rather than a change of mind: lithium is still where shorts go when they want earnings leverage to weak pricing. BOE is the headline act: 14.19% short, up from 13.34% (+0.85%), and now sitting at #2 on the list. This is classic “ramp-up vs valuation” pressure. Boss is ramping Honeymoon and progressing Alta Mesa — exactly the phase where timelines, recoveries and costs can turn a good story into a messy quarter. BOE’s own framing is in its investor material (http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf) and supporting document (http://www.bossenergy.com/images/media/2973720.pdf). IEL is still heavily shorted at 14.09% (-0.12%). That’s a steady, stubborn bet against an earnings stream tied to policy settings and student flows. PDN (13.58%, -0.22%) and DYL (9.77%, -0.02%) keep uranium stacked in the top 10, but the split matters: shorts barely moved there while they pressed BOE hard. That’s stock-specific targeting, not a blanket commodity call. In battery materials, SYR lifted to 12.96% (+0.40%) and LTR to 10.67% (+0.20%). The sector message stays consistent: scepticism is broad, not just aimed at one balance sheet. MIN is the exception worth respecting: 12.32% short after a meaningful -0.70% weekly fall. When a big, well-known short starts getting trimmed, it usually means someone decided the easy money has been made. MIN’s latest full-year reporting pack is here: https://cdn.sanity.io/files/o6ep64o3/production/b23c9b1f93dbe5cc41520061cafecf0c1d214c77.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.
Biggest risers were led by BOE (+0.85%) and then a very different cluster: consumer and travel. DMP rose to 7.16% (+0.80%). This is the clean “higher-for-longer” trade in one line: when household budgets are tight, the market stops paying up for operational leverage and starts stress-testing margins (labour, inputs, delivery costs). SGR climbed to 6.37% (+0.68%). Casinos attract shorts when regulatory and compliance risk can rewrite the earnings profile quickly — through licence conditions, remediation spend, or tighter operating constraints. ALD moved up to 4.70% (+0.63%). Fuel retail/refining is where shorts go to fade the margin cycle: strong periods are treated as peak-ish until proven otherwise. Ampol’s reporting suite is here: https://assets.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blt35cb056c1c8431c3/blt53b77d3a46dc93f1/2025%20Half%20Year%20ASX%20Release.pdf. WJL is still small in absolute terms but the direction is clear: 0.85% to 1.41% (+0.56%). On the cover side, NUF was the standout unwind: 7.05% to 5.69% (-1.36%). That’s shorts taking chips off the table, not a rounding error. SIG fell to 2.41% (-0.89%), while LTM dropped to 2.01% (-0.68%). For LTM, the simplest explanation is deal mechanics: when corporate action is in play, the downside gets capped and the short stops paying. CU6 also saw a decent trim to 1.15% (-0.63%).
Resources still dominate the top end of the tape. The top 10 is packed with lithium and uranium, and the week’s action sharpened the divide: • Lithium remains the heavyweight short: PLS at 19.06% with LTR at 10.67% and SYR at 12.96%. Even with some names seeing small moves, the sector is still where shorts park when they want maximum sensitivity to commodity pricing. • Uranium is where the fresh aggression showed up: BOE at 14.19% (+0.85%) alongside PDN at 13.58% and DYL at 9.77%. The market isn’t just trading the “nuclear renaissance” narrative — it’s trading the calendar. Ramp-ups and restarts are where the argument gets tested. Outside resources, the incremental shorting in DMP, SGR and WJL reads like a consumer caution basket: discretionary spend and travel are being treated as the first place earnings expectations crack if rates stay restrictive.
Watch BOE for the next operational update: at 14.19% short, any slip in ramp-up delivery will get punished fast, and any clean execution will force covering just as quickly. Second watch: whether MIN’s -0.70% short reduction continues — if that unwind extends, it’s a tell that the market is de-crowding some of the big resources shorts.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) at 19.06% short, down -0.14% week-on-week.
Boss Energy (BOE): 13.34% to 14.19%, a +0.85% week-on-week increase.
Uranium names are sitting at elevated short levels because ramp-ups and restarts carry execution risk. This week shorts targeted BOE specifically, lifting it to 14.19% short.
Nufarm (NUF): 7.05% to 5.69%, a -1.36% week-on-week fall.
Yes. PLS is still the most shorted stock at 19.06%, and other battery-materials names remain heavily shorted, including SYR at 12.96% and LTR at 10.67%.
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.
