The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 44, 2024
28 Oct 2024 — 1 Nov 2024
PLS stayed the ASX’s most shorted stock at 19.13%, with shorts trimming again (-0.45% WoW). The real tell was uranium positioning: PDN jumped to 14.64% (+0.93%) while LOT saw a sharp unwind to 5.04% (-2.60%) and EL8 fell to 1.62% (-0.90%). Outside resources, shorts pressed harder into CTT (7.85%, +1.43%), DMP (9.27%, +0.58%) and IEL (14.89%, +0.38%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
Uranium didn’t move as one trade this week — it fractured. Paladin (PDN) wore a fresh wave of shorts, up 0.93% to 14.64%, while Lotus (LOT) got the opposite treatment with a 2.60% dump in short interest to 5.04%. Same sector. Different targets. That’s positioning, not a thesis.
PLS (19.13%, -0.45%) still tops the table, but the drift lower in short interest is the story: some funds are banking wins rather than swinging harder. Lithium remains the easiest macro short on the board when the commodity tape is heavy, and PLS is the cleanest, most liquid expression. BOE (15.42%, +0.06%) barely budged, but 15.42% is a statement. Shorts are still camped in uranium producers even with the long-term nuclear narrative doing the rounds. The bear case here is execution and price sensitivity — ramping is where mining stories go to get messy. BOE’s own framing is in its quarterly results presentation: http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf. IEL (14.89%, +0.38%) keeps attracting incremental shorting. This is the classic setup for education services: policy risk around student flows and currency sensitivity, with shorts happy to lean in when headlines turn. PDN (14.64%, +0.93%) was the week’s loudest top-10 move. A near-1% weekly lift at an already high base is deliberate. The market is pricing in volatility and execution risk, with extra complexity after PDN’s late-2024 Fission acquisition. PDN’s annual report is here: https://www.paladinenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Paladin-2025AnnualReport-Full-Web.pdf. DMP (9.27%, +0.58%) is the consumer pressure valve. When rates stay higher for longer, the first place shorts go is discretionary spending and margin risk — food input costs, discounting, and a customer who’s watching every dollar.
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.
CTT was the week’s biggest target: 6.41% to 7.85% (+1.43%). For a $193m retailer, that’s not “a bit more shorting” — that’s shorts piling in. It reads as a straight bet against discretionary demand and business-model durability. BCB (0.22% to 1.27%, +1.05%) and BC8 (0.10% to 1.00%, +0.90%) are the classic “from nothing to something” shorts. The absolute levels are still small, but the direction says funds are starting to test downside in smaller miners. For BC8, the company’s latest investor presentation is here: https://bc8.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/251117-ASX_BCSL_Investor-Presentation-November-2025.pdf. ADT (7.17% to 8.02%, +0.85%) is a more mature short build. Development-stage miners attract this kind of positioning when the market wants to price schedule risk, funding risk, and jurisdiction discounting — and ADT’s Balkan exposure sits right in that debate. On the unwind side, LOT’s 7.64% to 5.04% (-2.60%) was the cleanest cover signal on the screen. EL8 also saw a meaningful step-back (2.51% to 1.62%, -0.90%). Put those next to PDN’s jump and you get the week’s message: uranium shorts are getting selective, keeping pressure on the big liquid names while reducing exposure where squeezes are easier. GOR (1.77% to 1.04%, -0.73%) looks like a gold short being taken off. CXO (2.84% to 2.11%, -0.72%) fits the same pattern as LOT in a different commodity: trimming at the smaller end while the lithium heavyweights stay crowded. SUL (2.33% to 1.61%, -0.71%) is a reminder the “Aussie consumer is cooked” trade isn’t one-way. Shorts are choosing their spots.
Zoom out and the short book is still a resources-and-cyclicals story. Lithium remains the anchor: PLS (19.13%), MIN (10.12%), LTR (10.09%) and SYR (12.85%) keep the sector heavily represented, even as some smaller lithium shorts like CXO (2.11%) were trimmed. Uranium is the other crowded pocket: BOE (15.42%), PDN (14.64%) and DYL (9.93%) sit high in the top 10, and the week’s split between PDN up and LOT/EL8 down looks like risk management inside a packed trade. Away from commodities, the shorts are pointing to where macro stress shows up first: DMP and CTT in discretionary spending, and IEL in policy/currency-sensitive services. Across 638 stocks, the average short is only 1.20% and the period average change was +0.01%, so the action is concentrated — these are conviction positions, not a market-wide lurch to bearishness.
Watch PDN’s short interest next week: after a +0.93% jump to 14.64%, the next move will tell you whether funds are pressing a catalyst or just rebalancing exposure after covering LOT and EL8.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) is the most shorted at 19.13% of shares short, down 0.45% week-on-week.
Cettire (CTT) rose from 6.41% to 7.85%, an increase of 1.43%.
The data shows rotation inside uranium: PDN increased from 13.71% to 14.64% (+0.93%) while LOT dropped from 7.64% to 5.04% (-2.60%) and EL8 fell from 2.51% to 1.62% (-0.90%), consistent with funds concentrating risk in larger, more liquid names and reducing squeeze risk in smaller ones.
BOE’s quarterly results presentation is http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf and PDN’s annual report is https://www.paladinenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Paladin-2025AnnualReport-Full-Web.pdf.
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.
