LIC shorting spikes +1.77% as PDN stays the ASX’s top short
Week 28, 2025 (7 July 2025 — 11 July 2025)
Paladin (PDN) remains the most shorted name on the ASX at 16.93%, and shorts added another +0.70% in a single week. The real shock was Lifestyle Communities (LIC), where short interest jumped +1.77% to 11.87% — a big move in a normally slower-moving property name. Across the list, uranium (PDN, BOE, SLX) and lithium (PLS, MIN, LTR, VUL) are still where the crowd is leaning.
This Week's Analysis
The week’s standout wasn’t uranium — it was LIC. Short interest in Lifestyle Communities ripped higher from 10.10% to 11.87% (+1.77%) in a week, which is the kind of move you usually see in a stock heading into a contentious update, not a retirement living developer. Meanwhile PDN tightened its grip as the ASX’s most shorted stock, up +0.70% to 16.93%, telling you the uranium trade is still crowded and getting more polarised.
PDN (16.93%, +0.70%) is the headline: shorts are still pressing the uranium leader even after the sector’s strong run. The most likely read is valuation and execution risk positioning — PDN’s story depends on delivery at Langer Heinrich and a supportive uranium price, and crowded winners are where shorts go hunting when momentum wobbles. Investors wanting chapter-and-verse should start with Paladin’s annual reporting (https://www.paladinenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Paladin-2025AnnualReport-Full-Web.pdf). BOE (14.41%, +0.03%) barely moved, but the level is the message: the market is still split on whether ramp-ups translate cleanly into cashflow. Boss is in the messy part of the lifecycle (production execution), and that’s where shorts like to sit. The company’s own framing is in its investor material (http://www.bossenergy.com/images/documents/Dec24-Quarterly-Results-Presentation.pdf). MIN (14.04%, +0.28%) and PLS (13.63%, +0.25%) show shorts are still leaning into lithium and diversified miners with lithium exposure. This isn’t a one-week punt — it’s a sector thesis that lithium pricing and margins stay under pressure, and that capex/operating leverage can bite. Pilbara’s quarterly reporting cadence is where the market tends to reprice expectations (https://1pls.irmau.com/site/pdf/3bba2523-52c7-4c38-bc03-b945945d9698/December-2025-quarterly-activities-report-advisory.pdf?Platform=ListPage). IEL (11.96%, +0.16%) remains heavily shorted because it sits right on the fault line of policy and demand: student flows, visa settings, and currency. If the AUD firms, that can also crimp competitiveness and reported earnings translation. PNV (11.05%, +0.29%) is a classic “great product, high expectations” setup. When a healthcare growth stock is this shorted, the market is usually questioning the durability of growth and the risk of any stumble in sales execution or margins.
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
IMU was the week’s biggest shocker: 0.00% to 5.10% (+5.10%). That’s not a drift higher — that’s shorts turning up in size. With small-cap biotech, this usually lines up with binary-event risk (trial updates, funding needs, or a sentiment swing), and the move itself is the warning sign: liquidity can cut both ways. LIC’s +1.77% jump to 11.87% is the cleanest “something’s brewing” signal in the dataset. The likely driver is rate sensitivity and housing/settlement risk: higher-for-longer yields pressure property-linked models, and any hint of slower demand or margin squeeze can bring shorts in fast. APX climbed from 2.90% to 4.11% (+1.20%). Shorts are leaning into the idea that AI-data services remain brutally competitive and customer concentration risk is real. Appen’s disclosures around governance and capital structure changes are worth scanning for context (https://yourir.info/resources/396cdf0a32f7cb50/announcements/apx.asx/2A1499479/APX_Notification_of_cessation_of_securities_APX.pdf). On the cover side, LTR fell from 12.37% to 11.75% (-0.62%) and ZIP from 5.61% to 5.05% (-0.56%). That looks like risk being taken off in crowded shorts rather than a full change of mind — lithium shorts trimming into weakness, and consumer finance shorts easing as the market recalibrates rate-cut timing. JHX also saw a decent cover (-0.59% to 5.39%), consistent with shorts reducing exposure to global cyclicals when the macro tape gets choppy.
Industry Trends
The sector pattern is loud. Uranium is still the most crowded battleground: PDN at 16.93%, BOE at 14.41%, and SLX at 11.21% (slightly lower WoW at -0.06%) tells you investors are split between a structural nuclear bull case and near-term valuation/execution risk. Lithium remains the other magnet for shorts: PLS (13.63%, +0.25%), MIN (14.04%, +0.28%), LTR (11.75%, -0.62%) and VUL (5.55%, +1.00%) are all in play. When you see both increases (PLS, MIN, VUL) and covers (LTR), it usually means the trade is rotating within the theme — shorts are picking their preferred targets rather than abandoning the bearish lithium view. Outside resources, LIC’s surge is a reminder that rate sensitivity hasn’t gone away. Property-adjacent names can reprice quickly when bond yields move, because the market starts doing the maths on funding costs and buyer demand.
Outlook
Next week, watch for any macro catalyst that shifts rates or the AUD — that’s the lever for LIC and IEL — and keep an eye on commodity price moves that can force covering in crowded uranium and lithium shorts. With PDN at 16.93% and LIC now 11.87%, it won’t take much newsflow to trigger sharp moves either way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which ASX stock is the most shorted this week?
Paladin Energy (PDN) is the most shorted at 16.93%, up +0.70% week-on-week.
What was the biggest week-on-week jump in short interest?
Imugene (IMU) jumped from 0.00% to 5.10%, a +5.10% move.
Why is LIC’s +1.77% short move a big deal?
LIC moved from 10.10% to 11.87% in a week, which is a large swing for a property-linked name and often signals positioning ahead of a potentially negative catalyst or a rate-driven re-rating.
Are shorts still targeting lithium stocks?
Yes — PLS (13.63%, +0.25%), MIN (14.04%, +0.28%) and VUL (5.55%, +1.00%) all rose, even as LTR eased to 11.75% (-0.62%), suggesting rotation within the bearish lithium view.
What does it mean when short interest falls in names like ZIP and JHX?
It usually means shorts are taking profit or reducing risk: ZIP fell to 5.05% (-0.56%) and JHX to 5.39% (-0.59%), which can reduce downside pressure but doesn’t automatically mean the fundamental thesis has flipped.
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.