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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:
- Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) remains the most shorted ASX share with a short interest of 15.2%, which is up sharply week on week. Short sellers appear confident that lithium prices are going to continue to fall.
- Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD) has seen its short interest rise again to 11.1%. This gold miner is currently on an acquisition spree with the aim of consolidating the Leonora region of Western Australia. Short sellers appear to believe there could be integration issues.
- Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) has a short interest of 10.8%, which is up week on week again. Weak graphite prices have forced Syrah to periodically shut down its Balama operation to conserve cash.
- Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) has a short interest of 9.7%, which is up week on week. Weak lithium prices and disappointing guidance continue to weigh heavily on the lithium miner's shares.
- Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) has short interest of 9.6%, which is down slightly week on week. Short sellers will have been celebrating last week after the lithium developer's shares crashed following the collapse of its takeover and the launch of a capital raising.
- Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has 9.5% of its shares held short, which is down slightly week on week. This could be due to concerns over the outlook of travel spending and revenue margin headwinds.
- IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) has 9.3% of its shares held short, which is flat week on week. There are concerns that the loss of the company's monopoly in Canada and visa changes could impact its business.
- Bank of Queensland Ltd (ASX: BOQ) has entered the top ten with a short interest of 8.9%. Goldman Sachs is urging investors to sell the regional bank's shares due to inflationary pressures on costs and weak volume momentum.
- Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) has seen its short interest rise to 8.9%. Short sellers don't appear to believe this artificial intelligence data services company's performance will improve in a hurry due to increasing competition.
- Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) has 8.6% of its shares held short, which is down week on week. Once again, this appears to be due to concerns that lithium prices could continue to fall and squeeze profitability.
