ASX closes flat despite a flurry of weak earnings results
Bega Cheese surges; Tabcorp and Qantas fall
Nvidia’s incredible quarterly results
The ASX 200 closed flattish on Thursday, despite a flurry of soft earnings results. The index tracked the weakness on Wall Street overnight.
Nasdaq-listed Nvidia jumped +9% after the bell as its last quarterly results beat Wall Street expectations for earnings and sales.
For the quarter, Nvidia’s total revenue rose a massive 265% from a year ago, based on strong sales for AI chips. Nvidia also said revenue during the current quarter would be better than expected.
“There’s no froth and bubble in this stock price, it’s that big and successful,” said Alex Pollack of Loftus Peak.
On the ASX today, Energy and Utilities sectors led, while Discretionary and Real Estate lagged.
Across the region, Asian stock markets also rallied on the back of the Nvidia results.
Equities are “basking in the stellar results from Nvidia after-market,” said Jun Rong Yeap, market strategist at IG Asia told Bloomberg.
BIG CAP WINNERS
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Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap BGA Bega Cheese Ltd 4.09 15.21 3,661,728 $1,081,038,101 IFL Insignia Financial 2.56 13.27 7,002,808 $1,506,576,462 LOV Lovisa Holdings Ltd 27.37 10.68 1,029,601 $2,712,698,962 PWH Pwr Holdings Limited 12.00 10.29 620,241 $1,093,267,345 FBU Fletcher Building 3.65 9.61 2,374,645 $2,607,535,175 DMP Domino Pizza Enterpr 43.22 6.72 997,789 $3,637,464,003 CSR CSR Limited 8.39 5.47 14,012,394 $3,795,199,517 CDA Codan Limited 10.26 4.80 784,589 $1,775,084,746 VNT Ventiaservicesgroup 3.67 4.56 4,186,584 $3,002,750,402 MP1 Megaport Limited 13.77 4.08 475,685 $2,105,221,236 CMW Cromwell Prop 0.40 3.90 1,215,187 $1,008,263,679 SFR Sandfire Resources 7.58 3.27 961,158 $3,354,324,245 A2M The A2 Milk Company 5.89 3.25 2,488,103 $4,120,728,406 SIQ Smartgrp Corporation 9.98 3.10 525,382 $1,285,684,716 MIN Mineral Resources. 60.90 3.06 1,239,892 $11,533,566,031 ANN Ansell Limited 24.99 2.99 321,893 $3,027,302,804 BGL Bellevue Gold Ltd 1.47 2.98 2,006,132 $1,677,712,138
Mineral Resources’ (ASX:MIN) revenue for the half was up 7% to $2.51bn. Dividend was declared at 20c a share. Separately, MIN advised that the underground Mineral Resource for its Mt Marion lithium mine has increased 111%1 to 19.3Mt at 1.22% Li2O as at 31 January. MinRes expects to complete 80,000 metres of reverse circulation and diamond drilling over the next 18 months.
Fortescue (ASX:FMG) reported first half NPAT of US$3.3 billion, and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.08, an increase of 41% from the pcp. Fully franked interim dividend was declared at $1.08 per share, 44% higher than the pcp.
Bega Cheese (ASX:BGA) surged 15% as statutory EBITDA for H1 came in at $86.1 million, up 20% on pcp. Bega maintained its guidance of $160-170 million normalised EBITDA for FY24.
BIG CAP LOSERS
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Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap MAF MA Financial Group 4.50 -19.93 4,562,014 $1,002,224,778 TAH TABCORP Holdings Ltd 0.64 -12.41 30,004,801 $1,654,747,967 NEC Nine Entertainment 1.71 -7.34 11,598,179 $2,984,857,294 APE Eagers Automotive 13.66 -6.44 783,187 $3,750,745,986 SUL Super Ret Rep Ltd 15.68 -6.16 1,050,122 $3,773,560,815 QAN Qantas Airways 5.28 -5.55 9,767,953 $9,639,701,661 MPL Medibank Private Ltd 3.67 -5.05 9,847,978 $10,630,452,506 BEN Bendigo and Adelaide 9.51 -4.13 1,566,681 $5,632,385,873 IPH IPH Limited 6.86 -4.06 4,118,590 $1,760,121,914 JBH JB Hi-Fi Limited 62.09 -3.96 261,812 $7,068,441,872 AZS Azure Minerals 3.47 -3.88 10,637,931 $1,655,833,266 CNI Centuria Capital 1.58 -3.67 598,373 $1,320,921,810 MAQ Macquarie Technology 69.45 -3.47 7,052 $1,751,570,083 BOE Boss Energy Ltd 4.63 -3.24 3,388,640 $1,953,358,200 BFL Bsp Financial Group 7.00 -3.18 20,441 $3,378,000,448 AUB AUB Group Ltd 30.17 -2.83 245,100 $3,365,994,501
Tabcorp Holdings (ASX:TAH) plunged -14% and hit a 52-week low after the company reported a statutory net loss after tax for the half of of $636.8 million. Revenue was $1.21 billion, down 5% on H1. The company declared an interim dividend of 1 cent per share, fully franked.
Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN) dropped after H1 profit fell by 13% to $1.25 billion. The airline also said it would miss margin targets in its international business. Qantas, however, has reiterated its investment in new planes, and rewarded shareholders with a $400 million buyback.
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) reported a 12% tumble in full year underlying profit during the NYSE session. The company cited weaker commodities prices and rising costs. Iron ore, which is Rio Tinto’s bread and butter, saw revenue decline due to lower prices, despite a 3% production increase. Copper, another key commodity, saw similar trends, with lower prices offset by production growth. Despite the headwinds, Rio Tinto rewarded shareholders with a generous final dividend of USD$2.58 per share, representing a year-on-year increase
Medibank Private (ASX:MPL)’s group NPAT for the half was up 103.2% to $343.2 million. Total claims paid were $3.1 billion. While the management expenses ratio increased, operating margin was up 250 basis points to 19.4%.
MA Financial Group (ASX:MAF) was the worst performing large cap today, down 20% after full FY23 underlying revenue fell 11% on pcp to $270 million. Underlying earnings per share (EPS) was also down 32% on pcp to 26.0 cents.
The post ASX Large Caps: Qantas, Tabcorp clipped as profits fall; Bega Cheese rockets 15pc appeared first on Stockhead.
