close
close

Short and caught: which lithium shares remain the most shorted ASX shares?

Posted on by L. Dreeye
Short and caught: which lithium shares remain the most shorted ASX shares?

  • Yes, you guessed it right. Pilbara Minerals remains the ASX’s most shorted stock despite lithium prices recently starting to rise again.
  • Uranium games Boss Energy, Paladin Energy and Deep Yellow also remain short sellers.
  • Short positions in consumer discretionary stocks suggest investors are cautious about consumer spending.

Before we dive into the most short selling on the ASX, a quick reminder of what short selling actually is.

Short sellers actually borrow shares from the broker and bid (sell) on the open market. The plan is to buy back the same shares later, after they have dropped significantly in price. The short seller then buys it back at a lower price and returns it to the lender.

The difference between the selling price and the buying price is the short seller’s profit. Investors are essentially betting that they will fall.

Since shorting shares is prohibited by Australian law (and since it is an all-or-nothing blood sport), any significant short selling of shares is worth being aware of, even if you are only trading long.

And perhaps there is a method to the madness.

Stockhead used the number of short positions as a percentage (5% or more) of the total number of shares in issue as reported by ASIC on short positions.

Most Shorted Shares on the ASX

Swipe or scroll to see the entire table. Click on a title to sort:

Code Company Short positions Shares in the issue % of short positions
Please PILBAR MINERALS 523 390 114 3 011 484 916 17%
Bank of England BOSS ENERGY 61 348 586 409 688 058 15%
IEL IDP EDUCATION 40 145 281 278 336 211 14%
PDN PALADIN ENERGY 43 099 890 299 113 022 14%
SIR SIRA RESOURCES 137 320 763 1 034 891 766 13%
MIN MINERAL RESOURCES. 20 756 242 196 518 604 11%
DMP DOMINO PIZZA ENTERPRISE 9 042 677 92 459 635 10%
DIL DARK YELLOW 94 420 603 969 741 926 10%
FACE LINAS RARE EARTHS 87 225 487 934 718 185 9%
ADT ADRIATIC METALS CDI 1:1 25 894 400 278 062 106 9%
LTR LIONTOWN RESOURCES 224 187 943 2 425 108 140 9%
KAR KARUN ENERGY, LLC 65 626 146 779 344 840 8%
FACE COMMUNITY LIFESTYLE 9 839 705 121 740 054 8%
OTD CORPORATE TRAVEL 11 265 544 146 325 746 8%
KMT GENESIS MINERALS 85 171 861 1 128 548 275 8%
YLG JONES LING GROUP 20 965 374 281 293 351 7%
SY SAYONA MINING, LLC 750 703 519 10 293 296 014 7%
STT SETTIRE, LLC 27 473 775 381 238 220 7%
Swedish crowns SIK, LLC 25 228 594 356 820 190 7%
RIO RIO TINTO, LLC 25 446 378 371 216 214 7%
FLT TRAVEL FLIGHT CENTER 14 575 028 221 911 982 7%
STX STRIKE ENERGY, LLC 182 479 121 2 865 373 749 6%
AD8 AUDINATH GROUPLTD 5 164 503 83 342 014 6%
crossover KLINOVEL PHARMACEUTICALS 3 088 238 50 060 680 6%
SLH SILEX SYSTEMS 14 604 969 237 241 524 6%
NUF NUPHARM LIMITED. 23 514 043 382 889 516 6%
I’m coming IMUGEN LIMITED. 451 197 831 7 438 310 643 6%
VBT WEBIT NANO, LLC 11 190 914 189 902 055 6%
DXS DEXUS UNITS CONNECTED 62 108 358 1 075 565 246 6%
BGL BELLEVUE GOLD, LLC 71 824 663 1 279 998 987 6%
MONKEY IGERS AUTOMOTIVE 14 146 372 258 074 137 5%
НВХ NOVONIX, LLC 27 048 398 493 764 317 5%
ALD AMPOL, LLC 12 612 023 238 302 099 5%
China CHALIS MINING, LLC 20 351 636 389 026 788 5%
MANY LOTUS RESOURCE, LLC 109 164 815 2 101 222 748 5%
SFR SAND RESOURCES 23 607 808 458 400 401 5%
NCC NICK SCALY, LLC 4 395 547 85 530 699 5%
IDX INTEGRAL DIAGNOSTICS 11 696 442 233 961 997 5%
CIA CHAMPION IRON, LLC 24 774 607 518 251 001 5%
EDV TRY 83 602 932 1790980017 5%
NAS NANOSONICS, LLC 13 830 581 303 454 080 5%

WordPress Tables Plugin

Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) remains the most shorted stock on the ASX with a short position of 17%. But in some ways, the silver lining for the lithium producer is that its short position has at least eased slightly from 20% in September and 19% in October.

Atchison investment analyst Mishan Dahiya told Stockhead that the materials sector dominated the list of the most shorted ASX shares with a 39% share, followed by energy and consumer stocks at 18%, information technology at 7% and healthcare at 7%.

“Lithium companies dominate short positions in the materials sector,” Dahiya said.

Other shorted lithium games include Saion Mining (ASX:SYA), Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) And Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR).

Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) – which recently announced a $10 billion deal to acquire Arkady Lithium (ASX:LTM) – As bullish support for lithium’s long-term outlook, it is also among the most shorted shares on the ASX.

“Although lithium prices have faced headwinds (down 41% last year), supply-demand imbalances, Chinese self-reliance and a strong US dollar have likely contributed to downward pressure on these companies,” Dahiya said.

While lithium prices have fallen from their 2022 peaks, they have been trending higher recently, helped by rising demand and various Chinese incentive packages, including doubling government subsidies for consumers who trade conventional cars for electric vehicles.

ASX short please
Source: Trade Economics.

Morningstar believes lithium prices may have bottomed and remains bullish on the commodity’s future.

“As demand growth outstrips supply, we forecast the market will return to equilibrium in 2025 due to the current supply shortage,” said Morningstar associate investment officer Simonelle Modi.

“This should lead to higher prices, which is the biggest catalyst for lithium stocks.”

The Pilbara share price is down about 35% since the start of the year.

Uranium stocks remain short-sellers despite rising prices

Uranus plays Boss Energy (ASX:BOE), Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) And Dark Yellow (ASX:DYL) also remain a target for short sellers despite rising commodity prices.

Uranium prices have risen more than 10% over the past two weeks, driven by the re-election of Donald Trump as US President and Russia’s ban on exporting enriched uranium to the US.

However, Dahiya said many large ASX shares and global uranium companies had struggled through the second half of 2024 due to lower uranium prices and, in some cases, ongoing operational issues.

Shares of Boss Energy and Deep Yellow are down almost 50% in six months after strong gains at the start of the year. Paladin shares are down about 19% year to date.

Short positions at consumer discretion

Dahiya said short positions in consumer discretionary stocks, including Domino’s Pizza Enterprises (ASX:DMP), Settire (ASX:CTT) And Nick Scali (ASX:NCK) suggested investors remain cautious about consumer spending, labor costs and supply chain constraints.

He said Domino’s Pizza was hampered by pressure on margins, rising ingredients and labor costs, while Cettire was hit by lower luxury spending and rising interest rates.

“Nick Scally, with a 5% short position, has been hit by recent supply chain issues and the UK expansion,” he said.

You might be interested