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Short & Caught: Flight Centre rises 50% YTD but still hitting turbulence, Zip moving up charts
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- Despite rising more than 50% YTD Flight Centre remains the most shorted stock on the ASX
- Megaport’s short position improves on upgraded guidance, while Zip second most shorted ASX stock
- Several ASX lithium and resources stocks on short sellers list as Benchmark Lithium Price Index
How does shorting work?
Short sellers effectively borrow a stock from a broker, and go wager it (sell it) on the open market. The plan is to then buy the same stock back later after it’s made a hefty drop in price. That done, the short seller buys it back at the lower price and returns it to the lender.
The difference between the sell price and the buy price is the short seller’s profit. Investors are in effect betting they will fall.
Because shorting is restricted under Australian law (and because it’s an all or nothing bloodsport) any substantial shorting of stocks is worth knowing about, even if you only trade long.
And perhaps there’s method in the madness.
Stockhead has utilised the number of short positions as a percentage of total shares on issue. The most ASX shorted stocks (excluding CDIs) all have 5% or more.
The most shorted stocks on ASX
Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:
| Code | Company | Short positions | Shares on issue | % short positions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FLT | FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL ORDINARY | 25,528,054 | 217,957,864 | 12% |
| ZIP | ZIP CO LTD ORDINARY | 83,631,495 | 768,865,865 | 11% |
| JRV | JERVOIS GLOBAL LTD ORDINARY | 195,559,979 | 2,079,820,066 | 9% |
| CXO | CORE LITHIUM ORDINARY | 167,038,529 | 1,858,516,794 | 9% |
| SYA | SAYONA MINING LTD ORDINARY | 799,074,840 | 8,968,765,924 | 9% |
| TPW | TEMPLE & WEBSTER LTD ORDINARY | 10,355,705 | 122,949,702 | 8% |
| LKE | LAKE RESOURCES ORDINARY | 119,660,006 | 1,422,444,707 | 8% |
| PBH | POINTSBET HOLDINGS ORDINARY | 25,801,370 | 306,857,645 | 8% |
| AMA | AMA GROUP LIMITED ORDINARY | 88,419,273 | 1,073,070,217 | 8% |
| MP1 | MEGAPORT LIMITED ORDINARY | 12,676,547 | 158,423,600 | 8% |
| JBH | JB HI-FI LIMITED ORDINARY | 8,234,052 | 109,333,981 | 8% |
| BRG | BREVILLE GROUP LTD ORDINARY | 10,544,818 | 142,781,365 | 7% |
| SHV | SELECT HARVESTS ORDINARY | 8,887,855 | 121,058,664 | 7% |
| BRN | BRAINCHIP LTD ORDINARY | 124,984,356 | 1,767,058,145 | 7% |
| BET | BETMAKERS TECH GROUP ORDINARY | 64,728,643 | 943,541,600 | 7% |
| VUL | VULCAN ENERGY ORDINARY | 9,628,433 | 143,435,301 | 7% |
| ACL | AU CLINICAL LABS ORDINARY | 13,174,098 | 201,834,015 | 7% |
| IEL | IDP EDUCATION LTD ORDINARY | 17,011,606 | 278,336,211 | 6% |
| NVX | NOVONIX LIMITED ORDINARY | 29,595,807 | 486,882,930 | 6% |
| CCP | CREDIT CORP GROUP ORDINARY | 4,121,836 | 68,066,856 | 6% |
| BOE | BOSS ENERGY LTD ORDINARY | 21,120,210 | 352,578,862 | 6% |
| NXT | NEXTDC LIMITED ORDINARY | 27,193,741 | 457,429,783 | 6% |
| ARB | ARB CORPORATION. ORDINARY | 4,872,014 | 81,971,722 | 6% |
| BOQ | BANK OF QUEENSLAND. ORDINARY | 38,446,129 | 652,485,010 | 6% |
| INA | INGENIA GROUP FPO/UNITS STAPLED | 23,420,415 | 407,583,264 | 6% |
| PLS | PILBARA MIN LTD ORDINARY | 166,533,031 | 2,998,013,519 | 6% |
| MCR | MINCOR RESOURCES NL ORDINARY | 29,689,521 | 536,284,869 | 6% |
| DOW | DOWNER EDI LIMITED ORDINARY | 37,072,137 | 671,573,679 | 6% |
| LTR | LIONTOWN RESOURCES ORDINARY | 117,365,395 | 2,198,454,633 | 5% |
| AWC | ALUMINA LIMITED ORDINARY | 153,343,421 | 2,901,681,417 | 5% |
| ABB | AUSSIE BROADBAND ORDINARY | 12,263,562 | 237,682,509 | 5% |
| OBL | OMNI BRIDGEWAY LTD ORD US PROHIBITED | 13,961,408 | 278,852,475 | 5% |
| WEB | WEBJET LIMITED ORDINARY | 19,068,712 | 382,536,484 | 5% |
| SGR | THE STAR ENT GRP ORDINARY | 80,353,329 | 1,618,680,877 | 5% |
| SYR | SYRAH RESOURCES ORDINARY | 33,274,618 | 672,453,900 | 5% |
| EML | EML PAYMENTS LTD ORDINARY | 18,476,144 | 373,984,129 | 5% |
| LLC | LENDLEASE GROUP FPO/UNITS STAPLED | 33,671,438 | 689,322,065 | 5% |
| IMU | IMUGENE LIMITED ORDINARY | 312,137,281 | 6,423,039,111 | 5% |
| LIC | LIFESTYLE COMMUNIT. ORDINARY | 4,981,180 | 104,545,131 | 5% |
| FFX | FIREFINCH LTD ORDINARY | 55,579,965 | 1,182,846,577 | 5% |
| APX | APPEN LIMITED ORDINARY | 5,833,679 | 124,319,061 | 5% |
| MSB | MESOBLAST LIMITED ORDINARY | 33,682,278 | 737,121,218 | 5% |
| NCK | NICK SCALI LIMITED ORDINARY | 3,683,273 | 81,000,000 | 5% |
| DYL | DEEP YELLOW LIMITED ORDINARY | 34,320,017 | 755,724,087 | 5% |
| HVN | HARVEY NORMAN ORDINARY | 56,411,732 | 1,246,006,654 | 5% |
| CGC | COSTA GROUP HOLDINGS ORDINARY | 20,919,492 | 464,709,793 | 5% |
| 29M | 29METALSLIMITED ORDINARY | 21,327,504 | 482,052,092 | 4% |
| BLD | BORAL LIMITED. ORDINARY | 47,801,739 | 1,103,088,419 | 4% |
| DMP | DOMINO PIZZA ENTERPR ORDINARY | 3,857,497 | 89,090,402 | 4% |
| SGP | STOCKLAND FPO/UNITS STAPLED | 102,292,258 | 2,387,171,662 | 4% |
| PNI | PINNACLE INVESTMENT ORDINARY | 8,559,572 | 201,268,091 | 4% |
| MTS | METCASH LIMITED ORDINARY | 40,452,002 | 965,541,602 | 4% |
| A2M | THE A2 MILK COMPANY ORDINARY | 30,166,391 | 721,976,214 | 4% |
| SGM | SIMS LIMITED ORDINARY | 7,928,171 | 193,174,303 | 4% |
| KGN | KOGAN.COM LTD ORDINARY | 4,342,668 | 107,076,543 | 4% |
| CUV | CLINUVEL PHARMACEUT. ORDINARY | 2,002,911 | 49,410,338 | 4% |
| DHG | DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUS ORDINARY | 24,674,797 | 631,657,153 | 4% |
| PDN | PALADIN ENERGY LTD ORDINARY | 114,154,263 | 2,980,097,705 | 4% |
| MYX | MAYNE PHARMA LTD ORDINARY | 3,199,815 | 85,074,288 | 4% |
| CIP | CENTURIA I REIT ORDINARY UNITS | 23,745,838 | 634,930,635 | 4% |
| NWS | NEWS CORP.. B VOTING CDI 1:1 | 1,248,067 | 33,739,198 | 4% |
| NEC | NINE ENTERTAINMENT ORDINARY | 62,763,386 | 1,705,393,253 | 4% |
| CXL | CALIX LIMITED ORDINARY | 6,662,742 | 181,086,220 | 4% |
| AVZ | AVZ MINERALS LTD ORDINARY | 128,567,057 | 3,528,729,748 | 4% |
| BGA | BEGA CHEESE LTD ORDINARY | 10,874,207 | 304,247,980 | 4% |
| NIC | NICKEL INDUSTRIES ORDINARY | 107,653,434 | 3,024,257,273 | 4% |
| MAF | MA FINANCIAL GROUP ORDINARY | 6,292,837 | 178,401,945 | 4% |
| MFG | MAGELLAN FIN GRP LTD ORDINARY | 6,392,236 | 181,431,899 | 4% |
Flight Centre remains ASX’s most shorted stock
Short sellers still think 2023 might be a turbulent trip for Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) which remains the ASX’s most shorted stock despite rising more than 50% year after the travel sector continues its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
FLT has also undertaken a a successful $240 million cap raise, including $180 million from institutional investors and $60 million share purchase plan. Funds from the raise were used to buy Scott Dunn, a leading UK-based luxury travel brand specialising in tailor-made luxury holidays, for an enterprise value of £121 million ($211 million).
The FLT share price today:
Megaport position improves as Zip moves to second place
Data centre/NaaS stock Megaport (ASX:MP1) has seen its short position improve from 10% to 8%. In our last Short & Caught article at the start of April, MP1 was the second most shorted stock on the ASX with a short position of 10%, which is now down to 8%.
But the company’s share price also soared 34% in April after announcing it now expects to report normalised EBITDA in FY23 in the range of $16m to $18m, and $41m to $46m in FY24.
The latest figures are materially above market consensus of $9m in FY23 and $30m in FY24.
Replacing MP1 in second spot is BNPL stock Zip Co (ASX:ZIP), which recently released its Q3 FY23 results, including group quarterly revenue which grew 15% year on year (YoY) to $182.1m with transaction volume for the quarter up 9% YoY to $2.2 billion.
The company’s core cash transaction margin also increased to 2.8%, a 30 basis point increase YoY, while revenue margin for the core business improved to 8.3%, vs 7.9% in Q3 FY22.
The company said it was a strong result considering the rising interest rate environment. The company also announced a brand new partnership with Peloton Australia, bringing its financing option to Peloton customers nationwide.
The MP1 & ZIP share price today:
Lithium and resources stocks on short sellers list
Short sellers are continuing to targeted several ASX lithium plays including Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA), Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) and Liontown Resources (LTR).
As Stockhead’s Bevis Yeo reported, prices of battery-grade lithium have been falling, with the Benchmark Lithium Price Index down 12.9% in the assessment period from 19 April to 3 May as international prices continue to fall in lagged response to the price decline in China across the first quarter.
Lithium hydroxide prices dove 16.9% to US$38,217/t while lithium carbonate was down 9.9% to US$35,333.
However, spodumene concentrate pricing was down just 5% to US$4,750/t with Benchmark noting that some contracts with longer lags are set to remain high throughout the quarter. Pricing for technical grade lithium carbonate climbed 8.1% to US$24,3000/t in the week from 26 April to 3 May.
Cobalt miner Jervois Mining (ASX:JRV) is also on the list of short sellers with low cobalt prices forcing the company to suspend construction at its Idaho cobalt ops in the US.
However, in some good news for JRV, which refines cobalt for battery makers in Finland, it entered positive cash flow in the March quarter, turning over US$1.3 million after ramping up cobalt sales by 15% to 1558t.
The company is planning to expand its refinery business into the USA, where it hopes to leverage support from the Inflation Reduction Act.
The CXO, SYA, LKE, LTR & JRV share price today:
