Short Selling: Goodman Group shorts spike, Syrah shorters cash in on $98m raise

Welcome back to the Short Seller Series – A recap of the most heavily shorted stocks on the ASX as well as 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 compare:

• Week-on-week (WoW % Chg) changes between 12 and 19 March

• Month-on-month (MoM % Chg) changes between 16 February and 19 March

Most Shorted

A relatively incremental period for week-on-week changes in top shorted stocks. Pilbara Minerals and Syrah Resources remain the top two most shorted stocks on the market since late November 2023.

Rising Shorts

Key themes and takeaways:

• Uptick in short interest across gold (Emerald Resources, Westgold) and uranium (Aura Energy, Paladin Energy, Nexgen Energy)

• Syrah Resources shorters cashed in after the company announced a $98 million capital raising on 13 March at 55 cents per new share or a 21.4% discount to pre-raise prices. The stock is currently on an eight-day skid, down 29.3%.

• Short interest in Goodman Group has spiked to the highest level in more than three years. The stock is up 30% year-to-date. A large chunk of those gains took place post-February reporting season, where the company reported better-than-expected earnings and outlined the growth opportunity within the data centre sector.

Most Covered

Key themes and takeaways:

• Appen shorters have been aggressively covering in the past week. The stock soared as much as 350% between early February and 12 March amid speculation of a takeover bid from US-based digital data solutions company Innodata. The offer valued Appen at 70 cents per share (worth of Innodata shares). On 14 March, Innodata withdrew its takeover offer on the basis that it was intended to remain confidential.

• Perpetual shorts have eased amid ongoing takeover talks. The AFR says the company collected preliminary bids last Friday, with British private equity giant Permira and US counterpart KKR both submitting proposals for the company's wealth and corporate trust businesses.