Azzet reports on three ASX stocks with market-moving updates to share today.
Car group falls after missing HY25 consensus
Shares in Car Group (ASX: CAR) were down around 2% mid-morning after the Carsales owner released a couple of key market updates today.
Much of the negative sentiment being dished out to Car Group today is reflected in the company's half-year result coming in just below consensus.
The group posted a net profit after tax of $123 million for the six months to December 2024, up 5% on the previous period.
Revenue rose 9% year on year to $579 million, while earnings grew 9% to $292 million.
The group declared a 50% franked interim dividend of 38.5 cents per share, up 12% from a year earlier.
While the Australian automotive market has continued to be resilient over the last six months, the group noted that "outstanding growth" at its webmotors business in Brazil saw Latin America revenue climb 30% to $97 million on a constant currency basis - the highest growth across its markets.
While FY25 net profit guidance remains unchanged at between $273 million and $277 million - up 9 to 11% on the previous year - the North American business Trader Interactive was lowered from "good" to "solid".
“CAR Group enters the new financial year with good momentum,” management noted.
“With market-leading brands, a clear commitment to investment, and multiple growth levers across the business, we are well positioned to deliver excellent results in FY26.”
Commenting on today’s update, CEO Cameron McIntyre told investors that revenue and earnings growth in all key markets reflects the strength of the business model, the execution of our strategy and resilience through macroeconomic cycles.
“We operate in large, underpenetrated addressable markets, and we have multiple levers available to drive future growth,” he said.
“The business is in excellent shape with a strong balance sheet and a prudent approach to leverage placing us in a great position to invest in innovation and deliver exceptional outcomes for our customers.”
Within today’s first half FY25 update the company also revealed a leadership transition with William Elliott, the current CFO, set to take over from McIntyre, who has been with the company for 18 years.
Car Group has a market cap of $13.9 billion; its share price is up 3.36% in one year and 2.41% year-to-date.
The stock appears unable to make a substantial move up or down. Its 20 and 200-day moving averages are relatively flat and imply a lack of interest from both buyers and sellers.
Consensus is Hold.
Clarity Pharmaceuticals rises after completing patient recruitment for trial
Shares in Clarity Pharmaceuticals (ASX: CU6) were up by around 4% at noon after the clinical stage radiopharmaceutical company announced the successful completion of patient recruitment for the Co-PSMA Investigator-Initiated Trial (IIT) at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney.
The Co-PSMA trial (NCT06907641), which has now imaged all participants is designed to evaluate Clarity’s diagnostic product, Cu-SAR-bisPSMA, against the standard-of-care Ga-PSMA-11 for detecting prostate cancer recurrence in patients with low prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels who are candidates for curative salvage therapy.
The Phase II trial enrolled 50 patients with biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer following radical prostatectomy and no salvage therapy, with PSA levels between 0.2 and 0.75 ng/mL.
The primary objective is to compare the detection rate of prostate cancer recurrence sites, measured by the number of lesions per patient, between Cu-SAR-bisPSMA and Ga-PSMA-11 PET/CT scans.
Previous trials, PROPELLER and COBRA, have demonstrated the diagnostic capabilities of Cu-SAR-bisPSMA compared to standard diagnostic imaging.
Commenting on today’s update, Dr Alan Taylor, executive chairperson highlighted the high unmet need for more effective diagnostic tools for men with rising PSA after radical prostatectomy.
Clarity is also conducting two Phase III registrational trials, CLARIFY and AMPLIFY, in the pre-prostatectomy and BCR settings, respectively.
St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney is actively recruiting for the CLARIFY trial and will soon begin recruiting for the AMPLIFY trial, with Professor Emmett as the principal investigator.
The company anticipates reporting the results of the Co-PSMA trial in the coming months.
Clarity Pharmaceuticals has a market cap of around $1.1 billion; the share price is down 29% in one year and up 59% in the last month.
The stock is currently trading around 60% down on its all-time high of around $9.00 late September last year.
The stock shares appear to be in a long-term bearish trend confirmed by a falling 200-day moving average.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
Ionic Rare Earths rallies after securing land in Brazil
Shares in Ionic Rare Earths (IXR) were trading around 11% higher at noon after the miner told the market its efforts to establish a sovereign rare earth supply chain in Brazil had been given a significant leg up.
The company’s 50/50 joint venture, Viridion Rare Earth Technologies was officially granted 2,071 square metres of land by the Municipality of Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais.
Marking what’s expected to be a major step towards creating South America’s first rare earth refining and recycling hub, the land has been earmarked for the construction of the Centre for Rare Earths Innovation, Technology and Recycling (CRITR).
The land grant also highlights strong local and governmental support for Viridion, a partnership between Ionic and Viridis Mining and Minerals Ltd (ASX: VMM), with the Poços de Caldas City Council’s unanimous approval demonstrating the municipality's commitment to advancing sustainable technologies within the region.
Subject to regulatory approvals and funding, the facility is expected to commence operations in the second half of 2026.
The facility will serve as a pilot-scale refining and recycling unit, processing Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC) from Viridis Mining’s Colossus Project and recycled neodymium iron born (NdFeB) magnets sourced from Brazil’s growing e-waste streams.
CRITR is also expected to support magnet recycling partnerships with local manufacturers and recyclers, contributing to Brazil’s clean energy transition.
Commenting on today's announcement, managing director, Tim Harrison told the market that this significant land parcel is an important first step in building the CRITR, which aligns with Brazilian national policy in developing a sovereign and sustainable rare earth supply chain.
“Viridion is also fortunate to have been selected as a recipient of federal funding and we look forward to finalising the structure of the funding package in coming weeks,” said Harrison.
This funding will facilitate the rapid delivery of this vital national project and ensure the future of our Brazilian downstream rare earth business, creating new jobs and investments for Minas Gerais and contributing to Brazil’s clean energy future.”
Viridion will deploy R$51 million (US$8.5 million) in two phases of development, focused on rare earth magnet recycling and Colossus MREC refining.
Late May Ionic raised $3.0 million through the issuing of convertible notes.
Earlier this month the company’s wholly owned subsidiary Ionic Technologies secured £11 million ($22.6 million) in funding from the UK Government to establish a rare earth permanent magnet (REPM) supply chain.
This investment is expected to support the development of the “CirculaREEconomy” initiative a first-of-its-kind project focused on strengthening the UK’s supply chain for high-purity separated rare earth oxides (REOs).
Ionic has a market cap of $107 million; the share price is up 100% in one year and up 185% year-to-date.
The stock appears to be in a strong bullish trend confirmed by multiple indicators. Specifically, the 5-day moving average of the stock price is above the 20- and 50-day moving averages.
Consensus does not cover this stock.
This article does not constitute financial or product advice. You should consider independent advice before making financial decisions.
