The 10 most shorted ASX stocks plus the biggest risers and fallers – Week 4
Short sellers are slowly covering their bearish uranium bets while targeting names like Silex Systems and Treasury Wine Estates.
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 5 and 12 January 2026
Month-on-month changes between 16 December 2025 and 12 January 2026
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Boss Energy | 19.46% | -0.23% | -3.89% | |
Domino's Pizza | 17.57% | -0.12% | 0.55% | |
Guzman Y Gomez | 13.74% | 0.05% | 0.50% | |
Paladin Energy | 12.48% | -0.45% | -2.18% | |
IDP Education | 12.17% | -0.25% | 0.16% | |
PWR Holdings | 11.69% | -0.25% | 0.50% | |
Polynovo | 11.51% | -0.08% | 0.39% | |
Telix | 11.25% | 0.00% | 0.24% | |
Droneshield | 10.96% | -0.15% | 1.89% | |
Treasury Wine Estates | 10.44% | 0.40% | 2.71% |
Key takeaways
Very little week-on-week change, likely reflecting low volumes in the first week of January
Sizeable decline in short interest for uranium names like Boss Energy and Paladin Energy. Uranium futures are now trading at US$85/lb, the highest since mid-2024, amid signs of fresh buying from physical funds like Sprott and the increasingly important role nuclear power will play in powering energy-hungry data centres. The US recently cut regulations on the construction and permitting process for uranium converters and enrichers. The US-listed Global X Uranium ETF is already up 11% year-to-date, while Paladin Energy has rallied 21%, trading at the highest level since October 2024.
Rising Shorts
Key takeaways
Silex suffered a 33% one-day selloff on 6 January after the company said its Global Laser Enrichment technology was not selected by the US Department of Energy for a US$900 million award under the Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) Request for Proposals. The contract would have represented official recognition of Silex's laser-based uranium enrichment technology as a credible and strategic solution for producing LEU, which is critical for both energy and defence applications.
Short sellers continue to pile into Treasury Wine after the company issued a sharp earnings downgrade on 17 December. The new numbers for 1H26 came in more than 30% below consensus and confirmed years of over-shipment into China and the US. Penfolds, while still generally viewed as a high-quality brand, is expected to face weak growth through FY27 as inventory is rightsized. The US business was seen as more structurally challenged, with poor execution, distributor disruption and limited flexibility in the sourcing model weighing on the outlook. TWE shares briefly dipped 16.7% on the day of the announcement but closed 9.2% lower.
Most Covered
Key takeaways
Not much covering activity either, just a slight decline across a coal miner (coking coal futures up around 6% year-to-date and up more than 30% since the July 2025 low), gold producer and defence play. EOS is now back at all-time highs after suffering a roughly 60% drawdown between September and December 2025, likely supported by ongoing geopolitical tensions between China-Japan and the US-EU.
