BOE hits 25.38% short — and the uranium pile-on just got louder
Week 14, 2025 (31 Mar 2025 — 4 Apr 2025)
Shorts piled into uranium again: BOE rose to 25.38% (+1.69%), DYL to 13.47% (+1.95%) and LOT to 10.92% (+3.56%), with PEN up to 4.94% (+2.04%) and EL8 to 2.76% (+2.02%). The other jolt was JHX, where short interest more than doubled from 3.25% to 7.37% (+4.13%). Covering showed up in consumer names, led by DMP down to 10.62% (-1.07%) and GYG down to 4.87% (-0.96%).
This Week's Analysis
Boss Energy at 25.38% short isn’t a view — it’s a position. And this week the market didn’t stop at BOE: shorts pushed harder across the uranium complex, with LOT jumping +3.56% in a single week and DYL adding +1.95%. Same trade. More size.
BOE (25.38%, +1.69%) stays the centre of gravity. When a stock is this heavily shorted, every operational update becomes a stress test. Boss is a ramp-up story at Honeymoon with progress at Alta Mesa, and shorts are leaning into execution risk — the kind that shows up in recoveries, timing and costs. The company’s own framing of the growth path is in its materials (Investor Presentation: http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf). PDN (16.12%, -0.14%) barely moved. That reads as “hold the line” rather than cover. Paladin remains the liquid uranium bellwether, and the lack of movement suggests shorts are comfortable keeping exposure there while adding more aggressively to higher-beta names. DYL (13.47%, +1.95%) was a clean add. Deep Yellow’s strategy has more moving parts — including portfolio expansion via M&A — which gives shorts plenty of surface area to press on timelines and delivery (Annual Report: http://www.deepyellow.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025AnnualReport06Oct25NoCoverSheet.pdf). The rest of the top 10 shows the second theme still intact: lithium shorts aren’t leaving. PLS (13.04%, +0.46%), MIN (13.01%, +0.96%) and LTR (11.53%, +1.18%) all lifted together. Different businesses, same bet: lithium price volatility and margin pressure, with extra scrutiny on complexity and balance sheets (MIN FY results: https://cdn.sanity.io/files/o6ep64o3/production/b23c9b1f93dbe5cc41520061cafecf0c1d214c77.pdf).
Top Shorted Stocks This Week
Financial Snapshot
Key financial metrics from recent company reports for the most shorted stocks.
Biggest Risers
Stocks with the largest increase in short interest this week.
Biggest Fallers
Stocks with the largest decrease in short interest this week.
Movers Analysis
JHX was the week’s real surprise: 3.25% → 7.37% (+4.13%). That’s a serious repositioning in a $19.6B name. The clean read is macro: a rates-and-housing trade. If global yields stay sticky, building products get hit through housing turnover and renovation demand, and JHX is a direct proxy for that cycle. In uranium, the speed of the move matters as much as the level. LOT (7.36% → 10.92%, +3.56%) looks like restart scepticism concentrated into one week — Kayelekera is a restart project, and shorts tend to press hardest when assumptions on permitting, capex and timelines are doing the heavy lifting. PEN (2.91% → 4.94%, +2.04%) and EL8 (0.74% → 2.76%, +2.02%) back up the same message: when the uranium trade gets crowded, the market targets the smaller names with more project risk. EL8’s milestones are laid out in its own updates (U-pgrade pilot plant: https://www.elevateuranium.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3000512-1.pdf; Napperby acquisition: https://www.elevateuranium.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/3005333.pdf). Covering was clearest in consumer-facing shorts. DMP fell 11.69% → 10.62% (-1.07%) and GYG fell 5.83% → 4.87% (-0.96%). That’s what profit-taking looks like when a trade is crowded and the next catalyst risks being two-sided. One clean exit also stood out: IPL went 0.71% → 0.00% (-0.71%). Whatever the original short was, it’s been closed.
Industry Trends
This week’s list is basically two sector expressions with one macro bolt through the middle. First: uranium. BOE, PDN, DYL and LOT sit in the top 10, and PEN and EL8 were among the biggest risers. That breadth tells you it’s not a single-company hit job — it’s a sector call that valuations have run ahead of near-term delivery. The market wants pounds in the drum, not presentations. Second: lithium. PLS, MIN and LTR all saw shorts rise again. The positioning says the “lower-for-longer” lithium pricing thesis is still the house view, and the shorts are happy to keep leaning on both the bellwether (PLS) and the higher-beta names. Then there’s JHX: a big-cap cyclical suddenly wearing a macro short. That’s the rates trade bleeding into equities.
Outlook
Watch BOE for any operational update risk — with 25.38% short, the stock will gap on execution news either way. The other tell to track next week: whether JHX short interest keeps climbing from 7.37%, because that would confirm funds are pressing the US housing/rates trade, not just taking a one-week swing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are so many uranium stocks heavily shorted on the ASX right now?
Because short interest rose across multiple uranium names at once — BOE to 25.38% (+1.69%), DYL to 13.47% (+1.95%) and LOT to 10.92% (+3.56%), with PEN to 4.94% (+2.04%) and EL8 to 2.76% (+2.02%) — which signals a sector-wide bet against ramp/restart execution and near-term delivery.
What does 25.38% short interest in Boss Energy (BOE) mean in practice?
It means BOE is the most shorted stock in this report (max short %: 25.38%), so the share price can move sharply on operational news: bad updates can accelerate selling, while good updates can force fast buy-backs from shorts.
Why did James Hardie (JHX) short interest jump from 3.25% to 7.37%?
The move (+4.13%) looks like a macro position. JHX is a building products proxy with large offshore exposure, so higher-for-longer rates and softer housing/renovation demand are a clean way for funds to express a bearish housing-cycle view.
Why did shorts cut Domino’s (DMP) and Guzman y Gomez (GYG) this week?
DMP fell from 11.69% to 10.62% (-1.07%) and GYG fell from 5.83% to 4.87% (-0.96%), which is consistent with covering/profit-taking in crowded consumer shorts rather than fresh conviction to press them lower.
Which sectors are dominating ASX short positions in this report?
Uranium and lithium. Uranium names in the top 10 include BOE (25.38%), PDN (16.12%), DYL (13.47%) and LOT (10.92%). Lithium-exposed names include PLS (13.04%), MIN (13.01%) and LTR (11.53%).
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.