The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 50, 2024
9 Dec 2024 — 13 Dec 2024
Week 2024-W50 was all about fresh pressure in lithium and uranium. PLS jumped to 13.89% short (+1.47% WoW) and BOE surged to 15.43% (+1.07%), while big covers in APA (-3.61%) and 29M (-3.83%) showed shorts taking profit or stepping away from crowded trades. Average short interest across 647 names was steady at 1.35% with a slightly negative period average change (-0.02%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
The standout this week wasn’t a slow grind higher in short interest — it was the speed. PLS added +1.47% in a single week to 13.89% short, and BOE jumped +1.07% to 15.43%. When large, liquid ASX names move like that, it usually screams positioning: either traders leaning into weak commodity tape (lithium) or fading a hot thematic run (uranium) into year-end.
The Top 10 is still dominated by the same battlegrounds: uranium, lithium, and a couple of structurally challenged cyclicals. - GSBW34 sits at 132.54% short (+0.03%). This is an instrument-level oddity rather than a clean read on equity sentiment, but the key point is it stayed elevated. - PDN remains heavily shorted at 15.93% (+0.10%). With PDN now a bigger, more complex story post its late-2024 Fission acquisition (per company context), shorts look comfortable running a thesis around integration risk and uranium price sensitivity. - BOE is now 15.43% short (+1.07%) — a big weekly jump. The most likely read is traders fading execution risk as Boss ramps Honeymoon and advances Alta Mesa. Production ramps are where timelines slip and costs bite, and shorts tend to show up before the market gets hard data. - PLS at 13.89% (+1.47%) is the clearest ‘sector call’ on the board. Shorts don’t add that much that quickly unless they think lithium pricing and realised margins are still heading the wrong way. - SYR fell to 12.63% (-0.56%) and IEL to 12.42% (-0.42%). That looks like selective covering rather than a broad risk-on move, especially with the overall period average change basically flat (-0.02%). - DMP lifted to 11.68% (+0.69%). That’s meaningful. This looks like classic consumer discretionary scepticism: cost pressures, competitive intensity, and the market’s habit of punishing any hint of soft same-store sales into results season. Where the data is cleanest: lithium (PLS) and uranium (BOE/PDN/DYL) remain the preferred hunting ground for shorts.
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 were punchy and, in a few cases, abrupt. - SVL jumped from 0.86% to 2.69% (+1.83%). That’s a big move for a smaller resources name and reads like a liquidity-driven trade: once shorts start, the percentage can move fast. - PTM rose from 0.54% to 2.04% (+1.50%). Fund managers get shorted when flows are ugly or performance lags peers. With PTM exposed to global equities and currency moves (per company context), this looks like a bet that investors keep pulling money and fee pressure persists. - TMG went 0.01% to 1.50% (+1.48%). On a $3m market cap (company context), this is more a signal of how quickly positioning can distort small caps than a deep fundamental verdict. - PLS (+1.47%) and BOE (+1.07%) were the ‘real’ large-cap style moves. On the cover side, the biggest message was shorts getting out of the way in a hurry: - 29M collapsed from 5.44% to 1.61% (-3.83%). That’s not trimming — that’s closing. The simplest explanation is profit-taking after a good run for the short thesis, or a shift in view on base metals exposure given 29M’s copper/zinc mix (company context). - APA fell from 6.33% to 2.71% (-3.61%). For a defensive infrastructure name, that kind of cover suggests the rate-trade is easing. If bond yields stabilise, the urgency to short yield-sensitive names drops quickly. - VUL dropped from 4.85% to 1.90% (-2.94%). That’s a big unwind and fits with a broader pattern: shorts are still happy to press established lithium producers (PLS), but they’re less keen to sit in crowded shorts elsewhere. - IDX fell from 3.53% to 1.52% (-2.01%). Healthcare services shorts often come down to margin and funding fears; this week’s move says that trade got less popular fast. - REIT ETF shorting also eased (2.06% to 0.40%, -1.66%), consistent with the APA cover: less appetite to lean against rate-sensitive exposures.
Two sector stories dominated. 1) Lithium is still the short community’s favourite punching bag. PLS added +1.47% in a week to 13.89% short — that’s aggressive. Even with some covering elsewhere (VUL -2.94%), the message is shorts prefer the liquid bellwethers where they can size up and get out. 2) Uranium is splitting into ‘theme vs execution’. PDN (15.93%, +0.10%), BOE (15.43%, +1.07%) and DYL (10.65%, +0.07%) are all heavily shorted, but BOE is where the incremental pressure landed. That points to a micro thesis: ramp risk and delivery risk, not just a macro call on uranium prices. Outside resources, the covers in APA and the REIT ETF suggest the market is less confident in the straight-line “rates higher for longer, kill defensives” trade — at least for this week. Meanwhile DMP’s +0.69% rise says shorts still like targeting discretionary names where any wobble in demand can hit earnings quickly.
Next week, watch for any commodity price shocks (lithium and uranium) that could force fast covering in crowded names like PLS and BOE. Also keep an eye on rate expectations — the size of the APA and REIT covers suggests the bond market will keep driving positioning into year-end.
It’s a large, fast increase for a mega-cap style ASX name: shorts added meaningfully in one week, taking PLS to 13.89% shorted, which usually reflects a strong conviction trade rather than day-to-day noise.
BOE’s short interest rose to 15.43% (+1.07%) as it ramps production at Honeymoon and advances Alta Mesa; ramps are where execution risk is highest, so traders often short the delivery risk even if they like the long-term uranium story.
It’s a signal that the short thesis weakened this week: APA fell from 6.33% to 2.71% shorted, consistent with traders stepping back from rate-sensitive shorts as yield pressure eases.
That size of move (5.44% to 1.61%) usually means shorts closed positions rather than trimmed, likely locking in gains or reassessing the risk/reward in a base-metals producer tied to copper and zinc.
Be careful: TMG moved from 0.01% to 1.50% short, but on a ~$3m market cap the percentage can jump quickly on small borrow and low liquidity, so it’s less reliable as a pure fundamentals signal.
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.
