ASX stocks with the biggest short interest changes – Week 45
Short sellers stepped up bearish bets against uranium stocks but covered positions in Clinuvel, Qualitas and various resource stocks.
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Mentioned
Welcome back to the Short Seller Series – A recap of the most heavily shorted stocks on the ASX and those experiencing significant changes to short interest over the past week.
Short selling data is four days behind today's date because reporting is not mandatory until three business days after the trade. The tables below will compare:
Week-on-week (WoW) changes between 20 and 27 October
Month-on-month (MoM) changes between 29 September and 27 October
Most covered and rising short tables record week-on-week changes of 0.5% or more
Most Shorted
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Boss Energy | 23.32% | 1.71% | 6.05% | |
Pilbara Minerals | 15.80% | -1.28% | -2.13% | |
Domino's Pizza | 14.65% | 0.24% | 2.68% | |
Guzman Y Gomez | 12.64% | -0.01% | 0.80% | |
Paladin Energy | 12.21% | 0.65% | 0.91% | |
Idp Education | 11.81% | -0.78% | -1.38% | |
Flight Centre Travel Group | 10.50% | -0.12% | 0.62% | |
PWR Holdings | 10.46% | 0.18% | 0.05% | |
Polynovo | 10.21% | 0.27% | 0.31% | |
Iluka Resources | 10.02% | -1.84% | -1.24% |
Key takeaways
Uranium short sellers stepped up activity for another consecutive week, with Boss Energy's short interest climbing to its highest level since early May, up just over 10.3 percentage points since its July 25 low of 13.00%.
The short selling data only extends to October 27, while uranium stocks soared on October 29-30 following the Trump administration's announcement of a deal to build at least $80 billion worth of new nuclear reactors. Over those two days, stocks like Boss Energy and Paladin Energy rallied 20.1% and 17.9% respectively.
The US will act as the initial buyer for multiple Westinghouse reactors, allowing project development to begin, including long-lead component orders. The investment structure could eventually give the US an approximately 8% stake in Westinghouse once certain profit conditions are met, with a potential IPO on the horizon.
Rising Shorts
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sun Silver | 1.13% | ~ | 1.02% | |
Boss Energy | 23.32% | 1.71% | 6.05% | |
Bluescope Steel | 5.24% | 1.14% | 2.20% | |
Opthea | 2.90% | 0.97% | 0.97% | |
Brainchip | 5.76% | 0.84% | 2.16% | |
Champion Iron | 5.98% | 0.81% | 0.05% | |
Whitehaven Coal | 3.52% | 0.78% | 0.47% | |
IPH | 8.68% | 0.76% | 2.87% | |
Reece | 3.17% | 0.71% | 1.28% | |
Rio Tinto | 7.02% | 0.70% | 0.83% | |
Harvey Norman | 1.07% | 0.69% | 0.07% | |
Paladin Energy | 12.21% | 0.65% | 0.91% | |
Audinate Group | 2.66% | 0.63% | -2.43% | |
Adairs | 1.64% | 0.62% | 0.46% | |
Lotus Resources | 6.53% | 0.59% | 1.38% | |
Droneshield | 5.22% | 0.53% | -0.14% | |
Telix Pharmaceuticals | 9.82% | 0.51% | 1.41% |
Key takeaways
Sun Silver is seeing rising short interest, potentially as a proxy for silver prices. The company's largest resource is its Maverick Springs Project in Nevada, the largest pre-production primary silver asset listed on the ASX. Silver prices have slipped around 10% from their October 16 high (though still up a massive 67% year-to-date).
Bluescope shorts are on the rise, though the catalyst remains relatively unclear. The stock experienced volatility in recent weeks, falling 11% between October 6-14 before recovering the dip by October 29. Bluescope's FY25 result (18 Aug) triggered slight negative revisions across the board, with analysts noting its 1H26 guidance fell short of high expectations. Weaker contributions from Australian Steel Products, NZ Steel and the loss-making US coated products business were consistent concerns. Rising conversion costs in Australia were flagged repeatedly, with higher energy and labour expenses pressuring margins and prompting downgrades to near-term ASP earnings forecasts.
Iron ore and coal stocks are seeing an uptick in short interest through Champion Iron, Whitehaven Coal and Rio Tinto, though all three have logged solid gains in recent days amid firm iron ore and coal prices.
Most Covered
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals | 6.24% | -2.71% | -0.15% | |
Qualitas | 0.01% | -2.08% | 0.01% | |
Iluka Resources | 10.02% | -1.84% | -1.24% | |
Pilbara Minerals | 15.80% | -1.28% | -2.13% | |
Alpha HPA | 3.11% | -1.16% | 0.17% | |
Mineral Resources | 8.65% | -0.83% | -2.17% | |
Myer Holdings | 3.15% | -0.83% | 0.38% | |
IDP Education | 11.81% | -0.78% | -1.38% | |
Ramelius Resources | 2.91% | -0.67% | -1.46% | |
Graincorp | 0.10% | -0.65% | -0.20% | |
Ampol | 1.70% | -0.60% | -1.11% | |
Silex Systems | 8.29% | -0.54% | -0.31% | |
Fleetpartners Group | 0.59% | -0.53% | -1.12% | |
Liontown Resources | 4.46% | -0.51% | -0.62% | |
APA Group | 1.74% | -0.50% | -0.54% |
Key takeaways
Short interest in Clinuvel continues to fluctuate, swinging between the 5-12% range as it has for the past three months. On August 22, the company announced plans to upgrade its ADR program from Level I (listed on OTC markets in the US) to Level II, which will list the stock on Nasdaq. According to a Monday company announcement, the US Federal Government shutdown will delay this move.
Qualitas short interest has effectively disappeared. This may reflect a large change in substantial shareholding from RedRocks ACS, which sold 30 million shares, lowering its stake from 22.7% to 12.3%. The selldown may have forced some shorted shares to be recalled.
Recent strength in lithium may be squeezing some short sellers out of names like Pilbara Minerals and MinRes, which gained 22.3% and 7.5% respectively over the week-on-week period (October 20-27).
Short interest has been aggressively building in Iluka Resources throughout the rare-earth rally. Short interest sat at 4.27% on July 16 and soared to 12.18% by October 7. Over the same period, Iluka rallied as much as 60%. However, the rare earth enthusiasm has since cooled, with Iluka now down around 25% from its October 15 peak. Short sellers may be taking profits or unwinding loss-making positions.
