Short & Caught is Stockhead’s fortnightly recap of which ASX small cap stocks are heavily shorted. Stocks that are shorted have investors betting that they fall.

Shorting works by selling stocks you do not actually own in the hope of buying them back at a lower price.

Because shorting is restricted under Australian law, any substantial shorting of stocks is worth knowing about even if you own these stocks and only trade long.

 

The most shorted

Code Name Price (I) Short Interest (Shares) Market Cap
PLS PILBARA MINERALS LTD 0.22 209.23M 466.98M
GXY GALAXY RESOURCES LTD 0.84 71.75M 331.68M
MYR MYER HOLDINGS LTD 0.14 69.94M 114.98M
NCZ NEW CENTURY RESOURCES LTD 0.09 64.16M 63.15M
SXY SENEX ENERGY LTD 0.17 57.56M 233.11M
INR IONEER LTD 0.08 55.82M 137.75M
CVN CARNARVON PETROLEUM LTD 0.15 54.61M 234.66M
FAR FAR LTD 0.02 42.85M 159.66M
CLQ CLEAN TEQ HOLDINGS LTD 0.14 39.29M 104.50M
PDN PALADIN ENERGY LTD 0.06 38.38M 111.53M
SYR SYRAH RESOURCES LTD 0.23 37.91M 89.13M
JMS JUPITER MINES LTD 0.22 35.52M 440.77M
MLX METALS X LTD 0.06 35.35M 58.97M
BUD BUDDY TECHNOLOGIES LTD 0.01 33.67M 23.83M
SWM SEVEN WEST MEDIA LTD 0.07 33.37M 106.12M
SPX SPECTRUM METALS LTD 0.12 32.19M 172.86M
BGL BELLEVUE GOLD LTD 0.5 30.23M 325.63M
NEA NEARMAP LTD 1.17 30.01M 490.92M
GEM G8 EDUCATION LTD 1.08 28.72M 496.99M
KAR KAROON ENERGY LTD 0.51 28.53M 284.79M
AMA AMA GROUP LTD 0.32 27.88M 223.11M
OML OOH!MEDIA LTD 0.64 27.54M 188.17M
BUB BUBS AUSTRALIA LTD 0.68 24.12M 361.39M
GRR GRANGE RESOURCES LTD 0.19 20.23M 208.32M
EWC ENERGY WORLD CORP LTD 0.05 18.81M 98.76M
WAF WEST AFRICAN RESOURCES LTD 0.42 18.77M 356.96M
OEL OTTO ENERGY LTD 0.005 17.65M 13.46M
IPD IMPEDIMED LTD 0.04 17.48M 18.40M
IFN INFIGEN ENERGY 0.47 17.33M 446.52M
STX STRIKE ENERGY LTD 0.12 17.14M 204.75M
SLC SUPERLOOP LTD 0.67 16.09M 235.98M
LNG LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS LTD 0.1 14.76M 56.51M
SPL STARPHARMA HOLDINGS LTD 0.83 14.29M 305.50M
SXL SOUTHERN CROSS MEDIA GROUP L 0.17 13.70M 126.89M
AJM ALTURA MINING LTD 0.03 13.53M 88.47M
HT1 HT&E LTD 1.06 12.60M 319.02M
EHE ESTIA HEALTH LTD 1.29 12.49M 321.36M
PET PHOSLOCK ENVIRONMENTAL TECHN 0.62 11.94M 322.05M
AVZ AVZ MINERALS LTD 0.05 11.94M 113.32M
JHC JAPARA HEALTHCARE LTD 0.5 11.70M 129.61M
BOT BOTANIX PHARMACEUTICALS LTD 0.04 11.39M 32.10M
REG REGIS HEALTHCARE LTD 1.3 10.40M 369.92M
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For many weeks Syrah Resources (ASX:SYR) and Galaxy Resources (ASX:GXY) led the list, but for the second time in a row lithium and tantalum miner Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) was on top.

Syrah’s short interest has nearly halved in the last fortnight, while Galaxy has remained just above 70 million.

Despite Pilbara Minerals signing an offtake agreement in the last fortnight it hinted demand could be tempered due to COVID-19. It managed to export nearly 34,000 tonnes of concentrate but this was at the lower end of its previous guidance.

Myer (ASX:MYR) took out third place, behind Pilbara and Galaxy, after closing all its stores for a month.

Around half a dozen oil stocks remained shorted as prices continue to lag.

Another stock on the list is uranium play Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN). While it has had no news in recent days, the uranium industry has witnessed some interesting developments.

Larger producers such as Cameco have had to suspend operations due to government regulations. Consequently uranium prices, which plunged during the GFC and never recovered, are up 12 per cent in the last month.

Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT) failed another clinical trial a fortnight ago and saw its share price plunge.

While many education stocks on the ASX are technology based, so-called ed tech G8 Education (ASX:GEM), which also made this week’s short & caught list, runs physical childcare centres.

The company is currently in a suspension pending an update to shareholders on just how COVID-19 has hit it.

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