Why this matters — Four distinct ORTEX data signals have aligned on CRML (Critical Metals Corp.) within days. Short interest, cost to borrow, and utilization are all moving in the same direction simultaneously.
Short Interest Rising Fast. SI hit 22.4% of free float as of April 24. That's up 12.5% in one week and 67.5% over the past month. Shares short stand at ~23.5 million.
Cost to Borrow Surging. The borrow rate hit 28.02% APR on April 24. That's up 82.6% in one week and 120% over the past month. A month ago, it sat near 12.7%. Bears are paying significantly more to hold short positions.
Utilization at Maximum. Utilization hit 100% on April 24, matching its 52-week high. It has touched or approached 100% on multiple days this month. Virtually all available shares to borrow are already on loan. New short positions are extremely difficult to initiate.
ORTEX Short Score Elevated. The ORTEX short score stands at 76.6 out of 100 as of April 23. The combined score reaches 77.5. Utilization ranks in the 2nd percentile — meaning almost no stocks are under greater borrow pressure.
An independent director, Mykhailo Zhernov, sold 50,000 shares across two transactions in late March at around $8.00–$8.07 per share. Net insider selling of ~$403K over 90 days runs counter to the bullish price action. On the institutional side, the largest holder, European Lithium Limited, trimmed its position by 7.5 million shares in its last reported filing. BlackRock added 802K shares as of March 31, while Alyeska Investment Group initiated a 3.9 million share position.
The most recent earnings event on January 2, 2026 generated a +35% one-day move and a +116% five-day move. Prior events saw sharp declines. The stock's next reported earnings is scheduled for June 11, 2026. Elevated short pressure heading into catalysts has previously produced outsized moves in both directions.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
Open CRML on ORTEX →ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
