Short Selling

The 10 most shorted ASX stocks plus the biggest risers and fallers – Week 6

Mon 03 Feb 25, 11:05am (AEDT)
Red hills outback Western Australia WA
Source: iStock

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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 21 and 24 January 2025

  • Month-on-month changes between 6 and 21 January 2025

Most Shorted

Ticker

Company

Short %

Week-on-Week

Month-on-Month

BOE

Boss Energy

19.55%

0.70%

2.49%

PDN

Paladin Energy

15.06%

-0.37%

0.63%

DMP

Domino's Pizza

13.30%

-0.14%

1.11%

SYR

Syrah Resources

13.21%

0.16%

0.42%

IEL

Idp Education

12.56%

-0.22%

0.36%

PLS

Pilbara Minerals

12.48%

-1.06%

-1.54%

MIN

Mineral Resources

12.42%

-0.05%

-0.04%

DYL

Deep Yellow

11.01%

0.45%

0.16%

MP1

Megaport

10.45%

-0.38%

0.60%

LTR

Liontown Resources

10.20%

0.24%

0.58%

Key takeaways

  • Boss Energy and Paladin Energy remain the most shorted stocks on the market, with short sellers maintaining their bearish stance on the uranium and nuclear energy sector.

  • Boss Energy’s short interest has hit record highs every day since 18 December 2024, rising to 16.72% from 1.99% a year ago.

  • Pilbara Minerals' short interest has fallen to a year-to-date low. The company posted a strong Q2 update last week, exceeding sales expectations, maintaining stable costs, and securing better realised pricing through offtake adjustments. It also reported solid progress on its P1000 expansion and the continued ramp-up of its POSCO joint venture. While lithium market uncertainty and weak prices persist, analysts generally see Pilbara as well-funded for growth, backed by a strong balance sheet and an improved pricing structure.

Rising Shorts

Ticker

Company

Short %

Week-on-Week

Month-on-Month

NVX

Novonix

3.82%

0.77%

0.18%

TLX

Telix Pharmaceuticals

3.31%

0.77%

0.28%

PNV

Polynovo

2.36%

0.73%

0.90%

WEB

Web Travel Group

4.36%

0.72%

0.97%

BOE

Boss Energy

19.55%

0.70%

2.49%

MGR

Mirvac Group

5.05%

0.59%

1.61%

HPI

Hotel Property Investments

0.80%

0.57%

0.58%

WJL

Webjet Group

1.64%

0.52%

0.67%

BGL

Bellevue Gold

7.46%

0.51%

2.01%

IFL

Insignia Financial

0.91%

0.50%

-0.15%

ORI

Orica

2.08%

0.46%

1.27%

DYL

Deep Yellow

11.01%

0.45%

0.16%

KGN

Kogan.com

1.29%

0.38%

0.18%

PPT

Perpetual

1.95%

0.37%

0.45%

WGX

Westgold Resources

3.66%

0.36%

1.19%

DTL

Data#3

3.39%

0.32%

0.13%

SIG

Sigma Healthcare

4.26%

0.31%

0.75%

Key takeaways

  • Novonix shares are hovering near their lowest levels since June 2020, down 25% year-to-date. The bearish sentiment likely reflects concerns over the company's conditional US$754.8 million loan from the US Department of Energy and the potential impact of a Trump administration on such proposed loans.

  • Telix’s short interest has climbed to a fresh four-month high. Despite this, the stock remains one of the best-performing large-cap healthcare names, gaining 140% over the past 12 months.

  • Polynovo saw a spike in short interest just days after reporting its preliminary first-half FY25 results. The company posted 22.8% revenue growth to $59.9 million, including a 27.9% increase in US sales to $41.2 million. Notably, since the short interest uptick, Polynovo shares have declined in six of the past seven sessions, shedding 12.0% in total.

Most covered

Ticker

Company

Short %

Week-on-Week

Month-on-Month

SQ2

Block Inc

0.11%

-1.16%

-0.90%

PLS

Pilbara Minerals

12.48%

-1.06%

-1.54%

BVS

Bravura Solutions

0.17%

-0.73%

-0.75%

FCL

Fineos Corporation

0.17%

-0.65%

-0.67%

CXO

Core Lithium

1.75%

-0.58%

-0.85%

AMP

AMP

0.59%

-0.57%

-0.47%

LYC

Lynas Rare EARTHS

9.04%

-0.49%

-0.57%

ACL

Australian Clinical Labs

1.40%

-0.43%

-0.29%

QOR

QORIA

0.13%

-0.42%

-0.47%

CSC

Capstone Copper Corp

1.21%

-0.41%

-0.83%

MP1

Megaport

10.45%

-0.38%

0.60%

PDN

Paladin Energy

15.06%

-0.37%

0.63%

RIO

Rio Tinto

7.10%

-0.34%

0.38%

LRV

Larvotto Resources

0.02%

-0.32%

-0.35%

AEF

Australian Ethical Investment

0.42%

-0.31%

-0.30%

JDO

Judo Capital

0.78%

-0.30%

-0.57%

LTM

Arcadium Lithium

1.44%

-0.30%

0.02%

Key takeaways

  • The sharp drop in Block's short interest follows its ticker change from SQ2 to XYZ, with short interest now sitting at 1.55% under the new code.

  • Bravura may have seen a dip in short interest amid plans to return surplus capital to shareholders. On Monday, 22 Wednesday, the stock traded ex-dividend for 16.3 cents per share (a ~7.0% yield). Short sellers holding a position through the ex-dividend date are required to cover the dividend payment.

  • It's becoming increasingly difficult for short sellers to bet against AMP. The stock is up 10.4% year-to-date and has surged 81% over the past 12 months. Last week, Morgan Stanley named AMP its "preferred play" in Australian wealth management, highlighting its ~12x FY25E P/E and >35% FY23-25E EPS CAGR as part of a compelling investment case.

 

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Written By

Kerry Sun

Content Strategist

Kerry holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Monash University. He is an avid swing trader, focused on technical set ups and breakouts. Outside of writing and trading, Kerry is a big UFC fan, loves poker and training Muay Thai. Connect via LinkedIn or email.

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