The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 42, 2024
14 Oct 2024 — 18 Oct 2024
PLS stayed the ASX short-book heavyweight at 19.33% (+0.27% WoW), while uranium names kept stacking up behind it: BOE 14.77% (+0.57%), PDN 13.84% (+0.26%), DYL 9.94% (+0.17%) and LOT 9.02% (+0.60%). The sharpest new bet was Corporate Travel (CTD), where shorts piled in from 6.01% to 7.53% (+1.52%). The cleanest exit was Appen (APX), collapsing from 2.82% to 0.08% (-2.73%), matched by a big unwind in WEB (6.17% to 3.44%, -2.73%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
Forget lithium for a second. This week’s loudest signal was travel: CTD wore a +1.52% jump in short interest (6.01% → 7.53%), the biggest move on the board. That’s not drift. That’s a position being built.
PLS remains the market’s favourite punching bag at 19.33% short (+0.27%). The message is simple: lithium is still where traders go to express “lower-for-longer” pricing risk, and they’re not done leaning on the sector. But the composition of the top 10 is the real tell. Uranium is now a crowded short theme: BOE is #2 at 14.77% (+0.57%), PDN is #4 at 13.84% (+0.26%), DYL is #9 at 9.94% (+0.17%) and LOT is #10 at 9.02% (+0.60%). When multiple names lift together, it’s rarely about one company-specific blow-up. It’s the market leaning against the whole complex — ramp-ups, delivery risk, and valuation that leaves no room for a stumble. IEL holds #3 at 14.27% (+0.17%). The stock stays heavily shorted because earnings are geared to student flows and policy settings; any wobble in volumes or pricing hits hard. MIN was the pressure valve: still high at 11.87%, but down -0.44% WoW. LTR also eased to 10.54% (-0.13%). That’s not a lithium bull case — it’s traders trimming a crowded trade rather than adding fresh weight. LYC ticked up to 10.03% (+0.17%). Rare earths keep attracting sceptics because the path from strategic narrative to clean earnings is rarely straight.
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.
CTD (+1.52% to 7.53%) was the week’s cleanest build. Travel management is a macro-sensitive earnings line: when corporate budgets tighten, it shows up early. The size of the move says traders want that exposure on. DRO jumped from 2.14% to 3.33% (+1.20%). This reads like expectations management — defence contract wins can be lumpy, and shorts tend to appear when the valuation starts pricing perfect execution (see DroneShield reporting: https://www.droneshield.com/s/2025-3q-9acb.pdf). BGL rose from 7.06% to 8.13% (+1.07%). Gold miners can still get hit even when bullion behaves; the short build points to operational and cost scrutiny. SGR lifted from 6.37% to 7.36% (+0.99%). Casinos don’t get the benefit of the doubt. Regulatory risk and earnings uncertainty keep shorts active. On the other side, APX was a trapdoor: 2.82% → 0.08% (-2.73%). That’s shorts exiting, not trimming. WEB matched it: 6.17% → 3.44% (-2.73%). A move that large is a vote that the bear case has been harvested, or that traders don’t want the position on into the next set of travel updates. AUB fell from 3.33% to 1.08% (-2.25%), and CTT dropped from 8.40% to 6.64% (-1.76%). In both cases, it looks like de-crowding: shorts taking profit rather than pressing.
The market’s short book is doing two things at once. First, it’s keeping lithium on a leash: PLS (19.33%), MIN (11.87%) and LTR (10.54%) remain big positions even with modest weekly changes. The trade is established, liquid, and easy to size. Second, it’s widening the resources scepticism into uranium. BOE, PDN, DYL and LOT all lifted in the same week, and that clustering matters more than any single print. It says the market is leaning against execution risk across the group, not just picking on one name. Outside resources, the travel split was the week’s best piece of colour: CTD shorts surged while WEB shorts were cut hard. Same broad sector, opposite positioning — the market is getting selective, not thematic.
Watch BOE next week. It’s already #2 on the short list at 14.77% and it added another +0.57% in a week — any production/ramp-up update that disappoints will feed the pile-on, and any clean execution will force a fast cover across the uranium cluster.
Corporate Travel Management (CTD): 6.01% to 7.53%, up +1.52% week-on-week.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) at 19.33% short, up +0.27% week-on-week.
Appen (APX) fell from 2.82% to 0.08% (-2.73%) and Web Travel Group (WEB) fell from 6.17% to 3.44% (-2.73%).
Boss Energy (BOE) 14.77% (+0.57%), Paladin Energy (PDN) 13.84% (+0.26%), Deep Yellow (DYL) 9.94% (+0.17%) and Lotus Resources (LOT) 9.02% (+0.60%).
Barely. The period average change was +0.02%, with 628 stocks shorted and an average short position of 1.22%.
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.
