The 10 most shorted ASX stocks plus the biggest risers and fallers – Week 23
Short sellers continued to pile into Lotus Resources, while bearish drops eased across Polynovo, Guzman Y Gomez and Nanosonics.
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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 changes between 18 and 25 May 2026
Month-on-month changes between 28 April and 25 May 2026
Most covered and rising short tables record week-on-week changes of ~0.5% or more
Most Shorted
There isn't a week that goes by without rising short interest in Lotus Resources. This is despite no market-sensitive announcements in recent weeks, while uranium markets have traded relatively flat over the past fortnight. The key catalyst remains the 30 April announcement in which the company retracted prior production, grade and recovery results. Macquarie's latest note (4 May) flagged an $85 million cash balance at 31 March against $38 million of operating cash spend in the March quarter, implying only a couple of quarters of runway before potential financial strain. Elsewhere, Guzman Y Gomez rallied as much as 20.2% on Friday, 22 May after announcing plans to exit the US market. The stock closed the session up 9.2%, suggesting the initial spike may have been driven by short covering.
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lotus Resources | 18.51% | 1.35% | 6.97% | |
Domino's Pizza | 15.28% | -0.35% | -0.20% | |
Telix Pharmaceuticals | 14.49% | -0.49% | -1.61% | |
Boss Energy | 14.02% | -0.31% | 2.57% | |
Treasury Wine Estates | 13.71% | 0.24% | 0.47% | |
Guzman Y Gomez | 12.59% | -1.49% | 0.51% | |
CAR Group | 11.46% | 0.31% | 1.57% | |
Flight Centre | 11.35% | 0.23% | -0.33% | |
Zip Co | 11.22% | -0.33% | -0.54% | |
Polynovo | 11.15% | -2.47% | -3.14% |
Rising Shorts
No major themes, just the odd copper, gold, agricultural, growth, travel and defence name being targeted. Lendlease has been an epic short play, with the stock down 7% over the past week, 22% over the past month and roughly halved year-to-date.
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Capstone Copper Corp | 2.79% | 1.77% | 2.36% | |
Lendlease Group | 6.32% | 1.64% | 2.01% | |
Lotus Resources | 18.51% | 1.35% | 6.97% | |
Block | 2.11% | 1.13% | 1.05% | |
Elders | 8.18% | 0.91% | 2.31% | |
Tyro Payments | 5.25% | 0.86% | 1.08% | |
Newmont Corporation | 2.36% | 0.85% | 1.18% | |
Temple & Webster Group | 8.05% | 0.82% | 2.06% | |
4DMedical | 9.25% | 0.76% | 3.94% | |
Metcash | 3.05% | 0.60% | 0.32% | |
WEB Travel Group | 6.31% | 0.58% | 1.93% | |
Electro Optic Systems | 3.88% | 0.57% | 0.25% | |
Silver Mines | 1.60% | 0.53% | 0.66% |
Most Covered
Polynovo's short interest has eased from a 12 May peak of 14.61% to 11.15%, despite no market-sensitive news since its 1H26 result on 20 February. The stock has staged several odd rallies, including a two-day run in early April (+12.3%), a 9.3% jump on 13 April and a 14.8% spike on 14 May. The last of these drew an ASX price query, to which the company replied that it was unaware of any material information behind the move. A handful of other growth names like Nanosonics, Catapult, Droneshield and Life360, also saw short interest tick lower.
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Polynovo | 11.15% | -2.47% | -3.14% | |
Guzman Y Gomez | 12.59% | -1.49% | 0.51% | |
Nanosonics | 8.94% | -1.23% | -1.47% | |
Catapult Sports | 5.05% | -0.99% | -1.36% | |
Aeris Resources | 3.24% | -0.72% | -0.20% | |
Clarity Pharmaceuticals | 7.86% | -0.67% | -0.51% | |
Karoon Energy | 3.56% | -0.58% | -0.59% | |
Droneshield | 10.88% | -0.57% | -0.51% | |
Life360 | 1.15% | -0.57% | -0.08% | |
REA Group | 4.91% | -0.52% | -0.55% | |
Suncorp Group | 1.21% | -0.50% | -0.53% |
