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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:
- Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: TLX) remains the most shorted ASX share despite its short interest easing to 16.1%. This radiopharmaceuticals company has been facing US FDA approval challenges. In addition, some short interest could be attributable to convertible-arbitrage hedging tied to Telix's US$600 million convertible bond refinancing.
- Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) has seen its short interest ease slightly to 15.5%. A poor update from Domino's Pizza US last week has cast further doubt on the pizza chain operator's turnaround.
- Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) has 14.3% of its shares held short, which is up again since last week. Given that this medical device company's shares trade on high earnings multiples, short sellers may think they are overvalued.
- Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) has 13.2% of its shares held short, which is up week on week. Tough trading conditions in the wine market have weighed on the Penfolds owner's performance.
- Guzman Y Gomez Ltd (ASX: GYG) has short interest of 12.1%, which is down week on week. Short sellers appear to have been closing positions in the quick service restaurant operator after the release of a better than expected update.
- Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) has 11.8% of its shares held short. This is down slightly week on week. Short sellers aren't giving up on this buy now pay later provider despite its strong quarterly update.
- Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has short interest of 11.7%, which is down week on week. This may be due to concerns that travel demand could be impacted by the Middle East conflict and higher airfares.
- Lotus Resources Ltd (ASX: LOT) has short interest of 11.5%, which is up week on week. Last week, this uranium producer's shares crashed after retracting previously reported figures while it works through reconciliation processes.
- Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE) has short interest of 11.45%, which is down since last week. There are concerns about this uranium miner's uncertain production outlook beyond 2026.
- DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) has 11.4% of its shares held short, which is down since last week. Valuation concerns are likely to be why short sellers are targeting this counter-drone technology company.
