The 10 most shorted ASX stocks plus the biggest risers and fallers – Week 27

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 25 June and 2 July 2024

• Month-on-month changes 4 June and 2 July 2024

Most Shorted

Interesting takeaways:

• Pilbara Minerals and IDP Education: Remain the two most shorted stocks on the market. The two stocks have retained the top spots since early February

• Australian Clinical Labs saw a sharp increase in short interest, rising to 9.9% from 8.4% in early June, signaling growing bearish sentiment. This shift comes amid broader sector headwinds, as evidenced by Healius' recent earnings guidance cut. Healius downgraded its FY24 earnings guidance to $60-65 million from the $70-80 million range provided in February. The company cited "improving pathology volumes for the half-year to date have been offset by lower than expected average fees due to the softer GP market and general inflationary pressures."

Rising Shorts

Interesting takeaways:

• Cettire faces intensifying criticism after a dramatic 49% single-day plunge on June 24, triggered by a significant FY24 earnings downgrade. Short interest notably decreased from 6.8% to 5.3% on the day, indicating profit-taking by short sellers amid the selloff. The company's trading update projected FY24 EBITDA in the range of $32-35 million, falling 22-29% below consensus estimates. The update also mentioned only three key metrics (sales, marketing-to-sales ratio and adjusted EBITDA) compared to the +7 metrics mentioned in prior announcements. The downgrade and lack of transparency follows a $127 million selldown from Founder and Chief Executive Dean Mintz.

• Bellevue's short interest continues to trend into record territory. The company is currently working through an initial ramp-up phase at its Bellevue Gold Project, which is forecast to reach 200-250kozpa gold production in the near term. Is the market doubting Bellevue's ability to meet production targets or positioning for a potential cap raise ($21.5m cash as at 31 March 2024)?

Most Covered

Interesting takeaways:

• Core Lithium saw short interest retreat in a timely fashion ahead of a production and financial update on 8 July. The update detailed final lithium output and shipments for the financial year and a transition into care and maintenance due to sagging lithium prices. Core reported a relatively robust cash position of $87.6 million with zero debt at the close of the March quarter. The announcement was well-received by the market, with the stock rallying as much as 20% before closing 9.9% higher.

• The Star locked in a new CEO last week – Steve McCann – the former Chief Executive of Crown Resorts and prior to that, the Chief Executive of Lendlease. His employment agreement included a fixed remuneration of $2.5 million a year, with a $2.5 million sign-on bonus plus several other short-term and performance-related incentives.