Which ASX stocks are shorters targeting and covering — Week 34

Welcome back to the Short Seller Series, where we recap the most shorted stocks on the ASX, along with those experiencing a notable rise and fall in 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 table below compares short interest changes between 9 and 16 August.

Most Shorted Stocks

What’s changed from last week:

• Core Lithium, IDP Education and Flight Centre remain the top three most shorted stocks

• Syrah Resources jumps to #4 from #6

• Lake Resources rises to #7 from #10

• Elders enters the top 10 from #18

Where are Shorts Covering? 

Key themes and takeaways:

• Shorts unwinding in reporting season losers including Evolution Mining, The Star Entertainment and Domain

Where are Shorters Going?

Key themes and takeaways:

• Several beaten-up names experiencing a re-load in short interest. A few examples include:

  • Mesoblast (-50% YTD): Sold off more than 50% in early August after the FDA requested more data for its flagship stem cell product

  • Lake Resources (-68% YTD): Lake has a track record of pushing back key milestones. Its shares sold off more than 30% in mid-June after announcing the two-phased development of its Kachi brine project

  • Elders (-35% YTD): Softening agriculture prices have weighed on Elders' outlook. Shorters are winning this trade after the company downgraded its full-year guidance to $165-175m from the previous range of $180-200m.

• Mixed results from reporting season shorts. A few examples include (brackets refer to share price performance on the day of the result:

  • Temple & Webster (-7.0% on 16 August): Results were broadly in-line with analyst expectations but its customer base experienced a substantial decline over the course of FY23. Analysts were also sceptical about the company's margin, profitability and medium-term sales target of $1bn.

  • Nick Scali (+12.95% on 11 August): Results were mostly in-line with analyst expectations but the dividend was well-ahead of expectations.

  • ResMed (-9.3% on 4 August): Robust top-line growth in Q1 but overshadowed by a reduction in gross margins. Analysts were concerned about the company's optimistic gross margin outlook and cash conversion.