At a time when a host of lithium upstarts are getting billion-dollar takeover bids, why is Pilbara Minerals, a profitable lithium exporter, the most shorted stock on the Australian bourse?

This month alone, a frenzy of lithium deals have torn through highly sought-after tenements in the West Australian outback, driven by a global race to secure the key ingredient needed to power the batteries of electric vehicles in the push to cut emissions.