The 10 most shorted ASX stocks plus the biggest risers and fallers – Week 17

Highlights:

• Short interest remained elevated in uranium and lithium names, with some companies experiencing mild increases over the past week.

• Lifestyle Communities gained further short interest momentum following previous underperformance and company-specific challenges.

• Biotech and fund management firms appeared in rising short tables due to broader market pressure and structural challenges.

The Australian share market continued to exhibit heightened short-selling activity within the uranium and lithium sectors. Several names within these segments held steady near the top of short interest rankings, reflecting ongoing sentiment linked to demand expectations and commodity pricing dynamics.

Boss Energy and Paladin Energy remained prominent, while Deep Yellow, Pilbara Minerals, and Liontown Resources also featured in the upper ranks. These companies, all resource-focused, showed limited week-to-week change but held substantial short interest over the month.

Lifestyle Communities Sees Continued Climb in Short Positioning

Short interest in Lifestyle Communities advanced again over the week, reinforcing its rising presence on the list. The company experienced notable share price weakness last year following public scrutiny of its operational practices. This event led to the withdrawal of forward-looking guidance.

Further pressure was noted after financial performance updates failed to meet broader expectations. These outcomes contributed to sustained bearish sentiment and increased short positions, especially following a recent earnings result that drew attention to sales performance outlooks.

Biotech and Fund Management Firms Enter Rising Short Tables

A number of names from the biotech and asset management sectors appeared among those with the largest increases in short interest over the week. PolyNovo rose in both weekly and monthly comparisons following leadership transitions that coincided with weaker sales performance.

Botanix Pharmaceuticals and Mesoblast joined the list, as both are active in capital-dependent biotechnology development. Within the fund management space, companies like Magellan Financial Group and Platinum Asset Management also experienced higher short positioning, potentially tied to broader equity market volatility and flow-related challenges.

WA1 Resources and Chalice Mining Highlighted in Resource-Specific Shorts

Resource companies beyond the uranium and lithium space also saw changes in short interest. WA1 Resources recorded a significant shift over the past week. Chalice Mining, another exploration-focused business, was also among the top weekly risers in short positions.

The movements in these stocks reflect broader dynamics impacting exploration-stage entities and resource valuation sentiment. Shifting commodity outlooks and funding-related concerns frequently influence short positioning in such companies.

Covering Accelerates in Travel, Software, and Iron Ore Companies

Several companies saw short covering trends over the past week, including those in travel, software services, and iron ore mining. Siteminder experienced one of the largest decreases in short interest, possibly linked to earnings outcomes earlier in the year.

Travel services provider Webjet and iron ore producer Champion Iron also saw reduced bearish positions. The week-on-week adjustments suggest that traders reassessed prior positioning across these companies in response to market or sector-specific developments.

Market Movement and Reaction Across Broader ASX Stocks Landscape

Broader activity in ASX Stocks, including firms like Polynovo (ASX:PNV) and Boss Energy (ASX:BOE), continued to reflect sentiment shifts across various industries. These movements were influenced by operational announcements, market developments, and broader sector trends.

Short selling remained an active strategy for participants navigating earnings-related updates, executive changes, and structural sector transformations. The dynamics across the biotechnology, energy, travel, and mining segments contributed to the evolving composition of the most shorted and most covered equities on the ASX.