The 10 most shorted ASX stocks plus the biggest risers and fallers – Week 17

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 changes between 7 and 11 April

• Month-on-month changes between 17 March and 11 April 2025

• Most covered and rising short tables record week-on-week changes of 0.5% or more

Most Shorted

Key takeaways

• The top of the short interest list remains largely unchanged, with uranium and lithium sectors continuing to face heavy shorting pressure due weak commodity prices and demand/supply concerns

• Lifestyle Communities has steadily climbed into the top ten, with short interest increasing from 7.3% a year ago and 9.0% at the start of this year. The stock sold off ~60% between February and September last year after an ABC report highlighting resident complaints about exit fees and rent. This led the company to withdraw forward guidance due to potential business impacts. Weaker-than-expected earnings in February and August 2024 further pressured the stock, and despite a bottoming in September, another disappointing result in February 2025 prompted Citi analysts to note that "the large downward share price reaction could be a reflection of weaker sales in FY25 YTD, with management highlighting this as a headwind for FY26 settlements too," adding that "this leads to large negative revisions to FY26 development forecasts."

Rising Shorts

Key takeaways

• PolyNovo saw its shares plummet 16% between March 6–11, 2025, after the abrupt ousting of its CEO following failed confidential board discussions. This leadership turmoil, combined with ongoing weakness from weaker-than-expected sales, likely drove up bearish sentiment and short interest.

• Rising short interest is evident in two key sub-sectors: biotech (Botanix and Mesoblast) and fund managers (Magellan and Platinum). Biotech firms, often unprofitable and dependent on capital raisings, are vulnerable to volatile market conditions, while fund managers rely heavily on equity market performance and fund flows, making both sectors prime targets for short sellers.

Most Covered

Key takeaways

• SiteMinder’s short interest surged from 1.2% in late February to 3.47% by March 31, 2025, driven by a weaker-than-expected half-year FY25 result. The company reported a $9 million NPAT loss, missing market expectations of $7.2 million, resulting in a 11.7% dip on February 26 and an additional 20.6% over the following two weeks.

• Temple & Webster successfully squeezed short sellers during February 2025 reporting season, with its share price surging up to 30% between February 12–17 after reporting a 117% increase in underlying NPAT to $9.0 million, beating market expectations by 76%. Despite recent market volatility causing a 15% dip between April 1–7, the stock recovered most of those losses over the next four sessions, potentially forcing further short covering or profit-taking.