The 10 most shorted ASX stocks plus the biggest risers and fallers – Week 32
Short sellers lifted bearish bets against the lithium and uranium sector last week, while covering positions in names like Imugene.
Source: iStock
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 21 and 28 July
Month-on-month changes between 30 June and 28 July
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Paladin Energy | 17.17% | 0.76% | 1.14% | |
Boss Energy | 16.31% | 2.23% | 1.24% | |
Pilbara Minerals | 15.99% | 1.54% | 2.76% | |
Liontown Resources | 13.07% | 1.40% | 0.48% | |
Mineral Resources | 12.98% | -0.54% | -0.86% | |
Idp Education | 11.71% | -0.54% | 0.23% | |
Lifestyle Communities | 11.69% | -0.21% | 1.65% | |
Silex Systems | 11.21% | -0.02% | 0.00% | |
Polynovo | 11.04% | 0.29% | 0.37% | |
Corporate Travel Management | 10.09% | -0.05% | 0.56% |
Key takeaways
Broad uplift in short interest across lithium and uranium names comes as Chinese lithium carbonate futures briefly hit a six-month high of 80,500 yuan per tonne on 25 July before pulling back around 15% to 68,400 yuan.
Rising Shorts
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Boss Energy | 16.31% | 2.23% | 1.24% | |
Pilbara Minerals | 15.99% | 1.54% | 2.76% | |
Liontown Resources | 13.07% | 1.40% | 0.48% | |
Alkane Resources | 3.95% | 1.36% | 1.82% | |
Elders | 4.56% | 1.21% | 1.68% | |
Arafura Rare Earths | 2.95% | 0.92% | 0.78% | |
Appen | 4.32% | 0.84% | 1.19% | |
Paladin Energy | 17.17% | 0.76% | 1.14% | |
Emerald Resources | 2.71% | 0.69% | 1.20% | |
Bapcor | 1.93% | 0.68% | 0.25% | |
Karoon Energy | 7.10% | 0.53% | 0.55% |
Key takeaways
Boss Energy attracted short sellers despite experiencing a brutal 43.9% one-day selloff (28 June) after flagging major issues at its Honeymoon Project. The problem in a nutshell: wellfields aren't as continuous as studies assumed. Instead of one well leaching three stacked horizons (upper, middle, and lower), they now need separate wells for each layer — driving up drill costs and well requirements. The damage remains unclear as Boss undertakes an independent review. Best case: the mineralisation issues are less severe and the selloff was overdone. Worst case: costs spiral and destroy project economics.
Pilbara Minerals saw short interest rise despite a solid quarterly update that beat production consensus by 16%, came in on-target for costs, and missed realised price expectations by just 4%. This capped a strong operational finish to FY25, with FY26 production guidance of 820-870kt meeting market expectations. Short sellers appear to be using PLS as a lithium price proxy.
Most covered
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Imugene | 2.65% | -2.43% | -2.56% | |
Ioneer | 1.47% | -1.27% | -1.06% | |
Spartan Resources | 0.13% | -1.12% | -2.95% | |
Chalice Mining | 3.87% | -0.85% | -1.82% | |
Ramelius Resources | 6.26% | -0.79% | -0.08% | |
Neuren Pharmaceuticals | 4.81% | -0.71% | -0.69% | |
Pexa Group | 1.48% | -0.71% | -1.16% | |
A2 Milk | 2.59% | -0.70% | -0.11% | |
Johns Lyng Group | 3.97% | -0.67% | -2.21% | |
Whitehaven Coal | 5.06% | -0.56% | -1.18% | |
Idp Education | 11.71% | -0.54% | 0.23% | |
Mineral Resources | 12.98% | -0.54% | -0.86% | |
Iperionx | 5.89% | -0.51% | -0.87% |
Key takeaways
Imugene may be experiencing profit-taking pressure, down 37% over the past month and more than 75% year-to-date.
Ramelius is seeing modest short covering following a broadly in-line June quarter result. Costs came in below expectations at the low end of guidance, while FY production exceeded the upgraded range — marking five consecutive years of guidance delivery.
Pexa shares surged over 20% after signing NatWest, one of the largest banks in the UK, to its property conveyancing platform. This represents long-awaited positive traction in UK expansion to complement its dominant Australian market position.
