The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 48, 2025
24 Nov 2025 — 28 Nov 2025
Shorts didn’t trim this week — they ran. BlueScope (BSL) collapsed from 7.18% short to 0.68% (-6.50%) and James Hardie (JHX) fell from 8.19% to 2.04% (-6.15%), while Lynas (LYC) wore the biggest new hit: 1.92% to 5.07% (+3.15%). Boss Energy (BOE) stayed the market’s main battleground at 23.68% short (+0.62%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
Two big, liquid industrial shorts were closed with urgency. BlueScope (BSL) went from 7.18% short to 0.68% in a week (-6.50%), and James Hardie (JHX) dropped from 8.19% to 2.04% (-6.15%). That’s not a tweak — that’s a trade being pulled off the table.
Uranium still owns the top of the leaderboard. Boss Energy (BOE) is number one again at 23.68% short, and shorts added another +0.62% WoW. With BOE ramping Honeymoon and progressing Alta Mesa, the positioning reads like a straight execution-and-commodity-price bet: any stumble in production, costs or timing keeps the short case alive; clean milestones turn 23.68% into a live wire. Domino’s (DMP) remains a crowded consumer sceptic trade at 16.73% (+0.34%). The market is still leaning into the same setup: tight household budgets, food input costs, and low tolerance for any wobble in sales momentum or franchisee economics. Paladin (PDN) sits third at 13.15% (+0.22%), reinforcing that this isn’t just a BOE story — uranium exposure is being shorted across the complex. Guzman y Gomez (GYG) at 12.98% (+0.45%) and IDP Education (IEL) at 12.38% (+0.30%) keep the “growth with a narrative” names in the crosshairs. For GYG, it’s valuation versus store economics and cost inflation. For IEL, it’s policy risk around student flows plus currency sensitivity. The top 10 had one clear release valve: Pilbara Minerals (PLS) fell to 10.76% short (-0.86%). In a stock that’s been a proxy for lithium pessimism, that’s meaningful covering.
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 week’s biggest fresh push was Lynas (LYC): 1.92% to 5.07% (+3.15%). That’s a new position being built quickly, and it reads like a rare earths pricing/demand trade rather than company-specific noise — a sector where sentiment can turn on a single China or industrial-cycle signal. Defence tech also drew fire. DroneShield (DRO) jumped from 6.39% to 8.62% (+2.24%), with shorts leaning into the familiar gap between contract headlines and the hard work of delivery timing, margins and repeatability. Catapult (CAT) rose from 1.67% to 3.43% (+1.75%) and Electro Optic Systems (EOS) climbed from 0.70% to 1.99% (+1.29%). Same pattern: higher-beta names where one update can move the stock sharply. Zip (ZIP) lifted from 2.31% to 3.59% (+1.28%), a clean macro expression if rates stay higher for longer and funding/credit costs matter. On the other side, the covering was savage. BSL (-6.50%) and JHX (-6.15%) dominated, with G8 Education (GEM) also easing from 7.44% to 4.06% (-3.37%) and Star Entertainment (SGR) from 3.99% to 1.73% (-2.26%). When shorts come off that fast, it usually means the downside is priced, the catalyst risk has risen, or both.
Materials positioning split down the middle. The “old economy” cyclicals were bought back aggressively via short covering (BSL, JHX), while “new world” materials took fresh heat (LYC) and the uranium names stayed crowded at the top (BOE, PDN). Outside resources, shorts kept pressing into high-beta growth and defence-adjacent tech (DRO, CAT, EOS) and into rate-sensitive consumer/credit exposures (DMP, ZIP). The common thread is duration risk: anything that depends on confidence in future earnings is still being treated as tradable, not sacred.
Watch Lynas (LYC) next week: after a +3.15% jump to 5.07%, the next move tells you whether this was a one-off build or the start of a sustained rare earths short campaign. If LYC keeps climbing while PLS keeps falling from 10.76% (-0.86%), the market is rotating its resources pessimism — not reducing it.
That -6.50% move is aggressive covering. It signals large shorts closed positions quickly, typically because the trade has played out or the risk of a positive catalyst made the downside no longer worth it.
BOE is in an execution-heavy phase (ramping Honeymoon and progressing Alta Mesa) and is highly sensitive to uranium prices. Shorts added again this week (+0.62%), keeping it the market’s most crowded short.
Yes. A +3.15% weekly jump is a sharp shift in positioning and usually reflects a new negative thesis being put on at size, often tied to sector pricing and demand expectations.
Defence tech can attract shorts when valuation runs ahead of cash flow and delivery timing. DRO’s short interest rose from 6.39% to 8.62% (+2.24%), signalling scepticism about how much of the contract narrative converts into durable earnings.
No. It only shows shorts reduced exposure this week (-0.86%). It does, however, suggest the lithium short trade may be getting crowded, which can change price action quickly.
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.
