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At the start of each week, I like to look at ASIC's short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.
This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn't quite right with a company.
With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:
- Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) continues to be the most shorted ASX share despite its short interest easing again to 11.1%. Short sellers appear to believe the company could fall short of expectations due to weaker revenue margins.
- Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) has short interest of 10%, which is up slightly week on week. This seems to have been driven by a bearish outlook for lithium prices.
- Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) has short interest of 10%, which is up marginally week on week. This may be down to concerns that the buy now pay later provider won't be able to achieve its profit goals. Though, recent updates appear to demonstrate that Zip remains on course to do so.
- Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) has seen its short interest ease to 9.2%. The shock departure of its CEO and weaker operating trends may be behind this.
- Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has short interest of 8.7%, which is up week on week. Project cost blow outs and lithium price weakness appear to be behind this.
- Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) has 8.7% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. Sayona Mining is yet another lithium share on the list amid falling prices.
- JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) has seen its short interest rise to 7.6%. This may be due to concerns over how consumer spending will fare in the coming quarters.
- Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) has 7.3% of its shares held short. Short sellers will have been celebrating after this meme stock dropped to a 52-week low last week. It faces a near impossible task of competing against companies that spend billions on R&D each year.
- Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (ASX: BET) has seen its short interest ease to 7.3%. This betting technology company may have been targeted due to competition and cash burn concerns.
- Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) is back in the top ten with short interest of 7%. As with Betmakers, competition and cash burn concerns appear to be why short sellers are targeting this sport betting company.
