The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 5, 2025
27 Jan 2025 — 31 Jan 2025
Shorts piled into The Star (SGR), up +1.12% WoW to 11.03%, while the uranium trade split in two: Paladin (PDN) added +0.86% to 15.92% as Boss Energy (BOE) was trimmed -0.59% to 18.96%. The loudest move wasn’t even equities — Queensland Treasury line XQLQAR saw a brutal cover from 7.60% to 0.71% (-6.89%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
SGR is the tell this week. Short interest jumped from 9.91% to 11.03% (+1.12%) — a fast, deliberate move in a name where the story is dominated by regulatory pressure and funding questions. Shorts didn’t wait for headlines. They pre-positioned.
The top 10 is still a mix of crowded themes and hard-to-own balance sheets, but the positioning is getting more selective. First, the outlier: AUSGOV TB 3.50% 12-34 6M (GSBW34) sits at 127.97% short (+0.04%). That’s the market’s biggest rates expression on the sheet, and it stayed elevated. In equities, BOE remains the most shorted at 18.96%, but the -0.59% WoW drop matters. That’s shorts taking risk off a producer where execution milestones can trigger sharp squeezes. BOE’s own materials keep the focus on delivery at Honeymoon and progress at Alta Mesa (see: http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf). PDN went the other way: +0.86% to 15.92%. That’s a real add, not drift. The market is leaning into complexity and delivery risk in a stock that’s been busy on the corporate front (Paladin annual reporting here: https://www.paladinenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Paladin-2025AnnualReport-Full-Web.pdf). Lithium remains a battleground, just not a stampede. PLS ticked up to 12.69% (+0.22%) while MIN eased to 12.21% (-0.22%). Same sector, different pressure points. DMP was the cleanest cover inside the top 10: 13.30% to 12.66% (-0.63%). Still heavily shorted, but less aggressively so. The rest barely moved: SYR at 13.19% (-0.02%) and IEL at 12.53% (-0.03%) read as “hold the line” positions rather than fresh conviction. And then there’s SGR at 11.03% (+1.12%), now firmly back in the top 10. That’s shorts paying up for event risk.
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 risers show where traders wanted fresh volatility. Lotus Resources (LOT) jumped from 3.56% to 5.10% (+1.53%) and Bannerman (BMN) rose from 3.47% to 4.39% (+0.92%). That’s uranium developers getting leaned on — the part of the trade most exposed to financing risk and sentiment swings. Zip (ZIP) spiked from 2.82% to 4.25% (+1.44%). Pair that with the huge short sitting in GSBW34 at 127.97% and you can see the macro wiring: higher-for-longer rates is the cleanest way to pressure consumer credit and funding-cost names. ZIP also had recent securities notices on the tape (e.g., cessation/unquoted securities filings: https://yourir.info/ezapi/announcements/dbc6d3e76afbc820/2A1648337/ZIP_Notification_of_cessation_of_securities_ZIP.pdf), the kind of technical supply shorts love. DroneShield (DRO) added from 7.20% to 8.11% (+0.92%). In a stock priced around contract momentum, shorts tend to press when revenue timing is lumpy. Investors wanting the company’s own framing can start with its reporting pack (https://www.droneshield.com/s/2025-3q-9acb.pdf). On the way down, the real fireworks were in fixed income: XQLQAR collapsed from 7.60% to 0.71% (-6.89%) and XVGHAB fell from 1.79% to 0.12% (-1.67%). That looks like position clean-up or forced covering, not a gentle change of mind. In equities, Latin Resources (LRS) dropped from 1.57% to 0.37% (-1.20%), and HPI slid from 0.80% to 0.07% (-0.73%).
Two patterns ran through the week. 1) Uranium is crowded — but the crowd is rotating. BOE and DYL eased (BOE -0.59% to 18.96%; DYL -0.21% to 10.80%) while PDN, LOT and BMN rose (PDN +0.86% to 15.92%; LOT +1.53% to 5.10%; BMN +0.92% to 4.39%). Shorts are trimming producers where a clean ramp update can hurt, and leaning harder into developers and more complex stories. 2) Rate sensitivity is creeping back into equity shorts. ZIP’s jump to 4.25% (+1.44%) and DMP still sitting at 12.66% after covering fits a tape that’s less forgiving on consumer demand and funding costs. Zooming out, this wasn’t a market-wide wave: 659 stocks were shorted, average short interest was 1.39%, and the period average change was +0.10%. The action was concentrated in a handful of names where the next headline can move the stock in a day.
Watch the uranium split: if PDN keeps rising while BOE keeps getting trimmed, the market is drawing a hard line between “execution now” and “story later”. One more week of that divergence will tell you where the next squeeze risk sits.
Because the reported short position can exceed 100% for certain fixed-income/structured instruments due to how lending, settlement and the reportable base are calculated. It’s not the same mechanical setup as ordinary shares.
Yes. A +1.12% WoW jump is a sharp repositioning and usually reflects traders paying for near-term event risk rather than slowly building a long-term view.
Shorts separate company-specific risk. BOE is a producer where operational milestones can trigger fast covering, while PDN’s +0.86% add suggests traders are leaning into complexity and delivery risk in that specific name.
It means shorts added aggressively in a week (+1.44%), consistent with a rates-and-consumer sensitivity trade and technical supply dynamics flagged by recent securities notices.
No. It’s meaningful covering (-0.63%), but 12.66% is still heavy short interest, which says scepticism remains — just less crowded than last week.
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.
