The 10 most shorted ASX stocks plus the biggest risers and fallers – Week 46
Lithium shorts surge as PLS becomes the ASX’s most shorted stock, while Zip shorts retreat after a near-100% rebound.
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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 26 October and 3 November 2026
Month-on-month changes between 5 October and 3 November 2026
Most covered and rising short tables record week-on-week changes of ~0.5% or more
Most Shorted
PLS Group has overtaken Lotus Resources and DroneShield as the most shorted stock on the ASX, while Vulcan Energy has pushed into the top 10 (more on that below).
Glencore is a new entry, though its high short interest is a little deceptive. The mining giant made its ASX debut on Wednesday, 14 October, though its listing raised no capital and issued no new shares. At the opening bell, approximately 44 million shares converted to CDIs, representing just 0.38% of its entire global register. So the ~16% short interest reflects a slice of that tiny CDI base, not the company as a whole.
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
PLS Group | 16.92% | 1.55% | 4.16% | |
Lotus Resources | 16.67% | 0.82% | 2.70% | |
Droneshield | 16.00% | -0.13% | 1.48% | |
Glencore | 15.61% | ~ | ~ | |
Paladin Energy | 14.64% | 0.02% | 3.19% | |
Boss Energy | 14.22% | -0.79% | 1.10% | |
Zip Co | 13.95% | -1.72% | 1.37% | |
Lynas Rare Earths | 13.95% | 1.25% | 2.42% | |
Vulcan Energy Resources | 13.40% | 3.02% | 6.10% | |
Iperionx | 12.84% | -0.33% | 0.39% |
Rising Shorts
Lithium names dominate the list, with Vulcan Energy leading the charge alongside bellwether PLS Group as well as Core Lithium, Mineral Resources, Elevra and Liontown. Chinese lithium carbonate prices have done an epic round trip, from lows of 68,600 yuan a tonne in September 2025 to a peak of 209,880 in May, and now back to around 88,800. The latest leg lower came on market chatter that a major Chinese battery producer, such as CATL, cut its October production plans by about 10%, with similar adjustments reported across the supply chain. Concerns over a potential surplus and new supply in 2027 are also overshadowing near-term tightness, along with trade headwinds like proposed EU safeguards on hybrid vehicles and lower Chinese EV export tax rebates. Macquarie's research indicates that lithium prices are approaching the upper end of the estimated cost curve. If bearish sentiment persists, the next major cost-curve support level is estimated around 80,000 yuan, where a cluster representing roughly 10% of higher-cost global supply would face severe economic pressure.
Elsewhere, shorts are building in data centre names (NextDC, Macquarie Technology, Southern Cross Electrical), uranium (Bannerman, Deep Yellow, Lotus) and gold miners (Ora Banda, Alkane, Firefly, Westgold).
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Vulcan Energy Resources | 13.40% | 3.02% | 6.10% | |
NextDC | 11.59% | 2.44% | 2.90% | |
4DMedical | 12.47% | 1.87% | 1.35% | |
Core Lithium | 8.10% | 1.67% | 4.36% | |
PLS Group | 16.92% | 1.55% | 4.16% | |
Lynas Rare Earths | 13.95% | 1.25% | 2.42% | |
Chalice Mining | 5.78% | 1.06% | 2.94% | |
Mineral Resources | 6.14% | 1.05% | 1.47% | |
Elevra Lithium | 9.84% | 1.04% | 2.85% | |
Hub24 | 3.64% | 1.01% | 2.23% | |
EQ Resources | 3.23% | 1.01% | 1.12% | |
Bannerman Energy | 7.10% | 0.93% | 2.91% | |
Liontown | 9.95% | 0.92% | 3.49% | |
Integral Diagnostics | 2.30% | 0.90% | 0.52% | |
Deep Yellow | 11.92% | 0.85% | 3.16% | |
Lotus Resources | 16.67% | 0.82% | 2.70% | |
Macquarie Technology Group | 3.41% | 0.79% | 0.92% | |
Xero | 6.98% | 0.76% | 1.20% | |
Southern Cross Electrical Engineering | 3.06% | 0.72% | 0.58% | |
GPT Group | 2.38% | 0.70% | 1.38% | |
AMP | 1.99% | 0.69% | 1.25% | |
Ora Banda Mining | 4.82% | 0.65% | 1.82% | |
Alkane Resources | 2.56% | 0.62% | 0.37% | |
Brazilian Rare Earths | 2.33% | 0.61% | 0.22% | |
Firefly Metals | 4.29% | 0.59% | 1.50% | |
Endeavour Group | 9.17% | 0.54% | 0.61% | |
Challenger | 0.98% | 0.54% | 0.68% | |
Judo Capital Holdings | 4.40% | 0.53% | 2.08% | |
Westgold Resources | 1.63% | 0.51% | 0.78% | |
Super Retail Group | 5.25% | 0.50% | 0.23% |
Most Covered
Zip has surged almost 100% from its 23 October open of $1.02. That was the day the stock flash crashed by just shy of 50% after revealing that a sophisticated external fraud ring in the US had used legitimate credentials to execute unpaid transactions, hitting the company with a $10.1 million (US$7.2 million) cash operating expense. Even after the covering, Zip remains among the ten most shorted stocks on the ASX.
Elsewhere, covering continued in discretionary names like Universal Store, Breville and Domino’s, as well as healthcare stocks Mesoblast, Australian Clinical Labs and PolyNovo.
Ticker | Company | Short % | Week-on-Week | Month-on-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Barrenjoey Group | 0.27% | -5.37% | -5.24% | |
Zip Co | 13.95% | -1.72% | 1.37% | |
Ooh!Media | 0.11% | -1.04% | -1.66% | |
Alcoa Corp | 1.42% | -1.02% | -1.37% | |
Universal Store | 0.92% | -0.94% | -1.30% | |
Black Cat Syndicate | 3.70% | -0.93% | -0.88% | |
Mesoblast | 7.34% | -0.90% | -0.23% | |
Generation Development Group | 9.19% | -0.83% | 2.19% | |
Breville Group | 7.05% | -0.80% | -1.06% | |
Boss Energy | 14.22% | -0.79% | 1.10% | |
Alpha HPA | 7.21% | -0.74% | 1.26% | |
Ingenia Communities Group | 5.30% | -0.71% | -0.03% | |
Australian Clinical Labs | 3.26% | -0.70% | -1.13% | |
Siteminder | 6.85% | -0.68% | -1.19% | |
AGL Energy | 4.05% | -0.63% | -1.00% | |
Arena REIT | 3.12% | -0.63% | -0.27% | |
Domino's Pizza | 10.09% | -0.62% | -1.56% | |
Polynovo | 6.62% | -0.61% | -0.44% | |
Austal | 2.71% | -0.54% | 0.56% | |
Ventia Services Group | 1.23% | -0.54% | -0.03% | |
Bank of Queensland | 3.99% | -0.50% | -0.25% |
