The 10 most shorted ASX stocks plus the biggest risers and fallers – Week 42
Lynas short interest hits a record after its Meteoric deal, while shorts unwind across consumer names and Cauldron Energy.
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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 28 September and 5 October 2026
Month-on-month changes between 7 September and 5 October 2026
Most covered and rising short tables record week-on-week changes of ~0.5% or more
Most Shorted
DroneShield remains the most shorted stock on the ASX at 14.52%, but Lynas has now climbed into the top 10. Short interest in Lynas has hit a record high, surpassing its August 2024 peak of 11.27%, after the company unveiled an all-scrip takeover of Meteoric Resources valued at about $968 million. Lynas shares tanked 8.6% to $12.64 on the day (1-Oct).
Meteoric’s flagship Caldeira project would lift Lynas’ Measured and Indicated TREO resources by about 79% and Ore Reserves by about 26% on a pro forma basis. The catch is that Lynas also inherits the build-out, with Caldeira’s capex currently sitting at US$498 million, or a little over half of Lynas’ $1.2 billion cash pile. The dilution is modest, with Meteoric shareholders set to own about 5.9% of the combined company, but that’s a lot of development risk for Lynas to take on.
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Droneshield | 14.52% | 0.22% | -0.84% | |
Lotus Resources | 13.97% | -0.83% | -1.06% | |
Boss Energy | 13.12% | 0.33% | 3.31% | |
PLS Group | 12.76% | 1.02% | 1.67% | |
Zip Co | 12.58% | 1.62% | 1.50% | |
Iperionx | 12.45% | 0.06% | 2.18% | |
Domino's Pizza | 11.65% | -0.06% | -0.39% | |
Lynas Rare Earths | 11.53% | 1.29% | 1.42% | |
Paladin Energy | 11.45% | 0.87% | 0.80% | |
4DMedical | 11.12% | -0.89% | -1.21% |
Rising Shorts
Lindian Resources’ short interest jumped the most as its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi nears first production. Macquarie downgraded the stock to underperform on 30 September with a $0.60 price target, flagging construction, commissioning and operational risks ahead of front-end commissioning in late October. The broker also warned that reliance on bilateral offtake agreements may pressure realised pricing, and that Malawi sovereign risk remains relevant.
Elsewhere, shorts are building in gold miners (Black Cat, Northern Star), lithium (Liontown, Elevra) and Artrya, which is up 6.31% over the month. Lottery Corp, Alcoa, Mirvac and Aussie Broadband also made the list.
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lindian Resources | 5.85% | 1.97% | 4.48% | |
Black Cat Syndicate | 4.58% | 1.82% | 1.08% | |
Pinnacle Investment Management | 5.38% | 1.16% | 0.68% | |
Alcoa Corporation | 2.79% | 1.12% | 1.64% | |
The Lottery Corp | 9.29% | 0.98% | 2.91% | |
Lynas Rare Earths | 11.53% | 0.95% | 1.45% | |
Artrya | 8.55% | 0.86% | 6.31% | |
Develop Global | 7.52% | 0.84% | 0.89% | |
Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure | 0.92% | 0.74% | 0.56% | |
Northern Star Resources | 2.88% | 0.73% | 1.50% | |
Lotus Resources | 13.97% | 0.71% | -1.95% | |
Mirvac Group | 2.06% | 0.70% | 0.85% | |
Liontown | 6.46% | 0.52% | 1.98% | |
Aussie Broadband | 5.88% | 0.52% | 3.48% | |
Elevra Lithium | 6.99% | 0.50% | 2.81% |
Most Covered
Cauldron Energy is a $130 million uranium explorer whose shares surged as much as ~600% year-to-date by late July. The stock has since given back much of that run and is now up 173% for the year, a 63% fall from its peak. Elsewhere, short covering continued across miners including St Barbara, Chalice, Meeka and Silver Mines, as well as consumer names ARB, Temple & Webster, IDP Education and Kogan. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary index has bounced 5% in recent days after a 16% correction since 6 August.
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cauldron Energy | 0.70% | -1.74% | -1.61% | |
Orora | 5.19% | -0.99% | -2.19% | |
Tyro Payments | 5.52% | -0.89% | -0.46% | |
Chalice Mining | 2.84% | -0.88% | -0.40% | |
Shape Australia Corporation | 0.30% | -0.85% | -0.84% | |
ARB Corporation | 4.11% | -0.83% | -1.63% | |
St Barbara | 3.54% | -0.83% | -0.83% | |
4DMedical | 11.12% | -0.81% | -1.05% | |
Temple & Webster Group | 3.99% | -0.81% | -0.92% | |
Regis Healthcare | 0.75% | -0.79% | -0.68% | |
Meeka Metals | 0.56% | -0.79% | -2.99% | |
Idp Education | 1.70% | -0.77% | -1.21% | |
Karoon Energy | 3.83% | -0.75% | -0.04% | |
Electro Optic Systems Holdings | 9.70% | -0.67% | 1.42% | |
Codan | 0.46% | -0.66% | 0.25% | |
Droneshield | 14.52% | -0.65% | -0.90% | |
Australian Clinical Labs | 4.39% | -0.65% | -0.42% | |
Jumbo Interactive | 1.67% | -0.64% | -5.82% | |
Cobram Estate Olives | 4.73% | -0.62% | 1.32% | |
Silver Mines | 1.60% | -0.57% | 0.14% | |
Kogan.com | 0.95% | -0.56% | -0.40% | |
Viva Energy Group | 0.38% | -0.56% | -0.23% | |
29Metals | 0.12% | -0.55% | -0.53% | |
Aurum Resources | 0.59% | -0.54% | -0.15% | |
Megaport | 2.98% | -0.51% | 0.11% |
