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 its long run as the most shorted ASX share despite its short interest pulling back to 10.8%. Concerns over revenue margin headwinds may be behind this.
- Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) has short interest of 9.3%, which is up strongly week on week. A number of brokers say that this lithium miner is seriously overvalued.
- Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE) has 8.9% of its shares in the hands of short sellers, which is up again since last week. Fears that lithium prices could fall heavily may be behind this.
- Jervois Global Ltd (ASX: JRV) has 8.5% of its shares held short, which is flat week on week. This cobalt developer has suspended the final construction of the Idaho Cobalt Operation due to weak prices of the battery material.
- Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) has short interest of 8.2%. which is down sharply since last week. This artificial intelligence data services company's worrying trading update has spooked investors.
- Select Harvests Ltd (ASX: SHV) has 8.1% of its shares held short, which is up slightly since last week. Analysts are forecasting a very large loss from the almond producer in FY 2023.
- Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) has short interest of 8%, which is down week on week. The market appears to believe regulatory changes could be an issue. Though, Zip believes it is well-placed to benefit.
- Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) has seen its short interest remain flat at 8%. This lithium developer has just announced a $200 million capital raising.
- AMA Group Ltd (ASX: AMA) is back in the top ten with short interest of 7.8%. This crash repair company's precarious balance sheet appears to have the market concerned.
- JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) has entered the top ten with 7.15% of its shares held short. Concerns about weak consumer spending seems to be behind this.
