Azzet reports on three stocks with price moving updates today.
City Chic Collective lifts on 1H update ~
Shares in City Chic Collective (ASX: CCX) opened as much as 7% higher today, but by 1:30 pm AEDT (2:30 am GMT), profit-takers shaved those gains back to 3.6%.
What the market responded favourably to today was the plus-size fashion retailer’s mixed preliminary first-half update, which at face value was a little difficult to decipher.
Preliminary first-half revenue of $69.2 million was down 0.5% on the previous corresponding period, with growth in ANZ being offset by weaker sales in the Americas.
While ANZ revenue rose 7.4% to $59.4 million, Americas revenue fell by as much as 31.4% to $9.7 million.
However, it’s worth noting that this was due to a deliberate reduction in inventory purchases in response to Trump’s tariff volatility.
Overall, what’s clear is that ANZ did the heavy lifting within today’s result, with the ANZ trading margin expanding 10.1%, with margin up 1.3 percentage points on the previous year and 6.4 percentage points on the two years before, due to improved full-price sell-through and tighter promotional activity.
It’s also important to note that despite lower inventory levels, management reminded the market that its U.S. business continues to trade profitably.
Overall, group trading gross margin was 62.2%, up 220 basis points and ahead of plan, while average selling price increased 6.1%.
Earnings ended the half at between $6 million and $7 million, up 71 to 100% on the previous period, while inventory closed at $24.7 million, down 21%, due to strategic tariff-related reductions.
Partner sales were down by 29.9% to $5.7 million.
Commenting on today’s update, Phil Ryan, CEO of City Chic, told the market it remains on track to be operating cash flow positive in FY26.
“The driver of the result was our 10.1% trading margin growth in ANZ. We achieved this by remaining disciplined in the Black Friday/Cyber Monday and Christmas trading period and avoided chasing top line sales through excessive promotions, while keeping inventory and costs under control,” he said.
“The resilience of the U.S. consumer has been a welcome surprise, and we’re encouraged by the underlying strength of our direct-to-consumer channels. As a result, Summer 2026 inventory has been ordered to support a return to higher sales levels in 2H FY26.”
During the half, the group fully repaid its debt, meeting all clean-down covenants for FY26 and finishing December with no drawn debt and total cash of $5.4 million.
The group also extended its $10 million debt facility through to the end of Q1 2028, while maintaining our existing covenant arrangements.
During a conference call for analysts and investors on 24 February, management plans to discuss the 1H FY26 results and business outlook; this should put the spotlight on U.S. strategy going forward.
City Chic Collective has a market cap of $55 million; the share price is up 34% in one year and up 16% in the last week.
The stock appears to be in a Medium-term rally, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus does not cover this stock.
Catalyst Metals soars again after updating on Cinnamon
Following a 13% jump to $8.85 on Friday after releasing a strong quarterly update, shares in Catalyst Metals (ASX: CYL) were up another 7.3% after the gold miner announced a new high-grade gold discovery below its Cinnamon Resource on the Plutonic Gold Belt in WA.
Encouraging drill results at the Cinnamon trend on the Plutonic Gold Belt confirm a 400-metre-long high-grade gold zone beneath the existing Cinnamon open-pit resource that remains open along strike and at depth.
The discovery suggests Cinnamon could become a sixth underground ore source alongside Plutonic Main, Plutonic East, Trident, K2 and Old Highway.
The market was clearly encouraged by the prospect of this potentially feeding into the miner’s 10-year plan to double Plutonic Belt production from about 100,000 to 200,000 ounces a year.
This outcome could also de-risk that growth profile by converting exploration targets into resources and reserves, while also underpinning the case for future expansion options such as a possible restart of a second processing plant at Plutonic.
To the uninitiated, Catalyst Metals is an Australian gold producer focused on the 40km-long Plutonic Gold Belt in WA, where it operates three mines—Plutonic Main, Plutonic East and Trident—producing around 100,000 ounces of gold annually at an all-in sustaining cost of $2,300 per ounce.
What captured the market's attention on Friday were revelations that the miner produced 28,176 ounces of gold with an average all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $2,565 per ounce.
The miner also retained its FY26 guidance of 100,000 ounces to 110,000 ounces of gold production at an AISC of $2,200 to $2,650 per ounce.
In response to Friday’s update, Bell Potter retained its buy rating but upgraded its price target to $13.50, which implies 40% upside to the current price.
Catalyst Metals' has a market cap of $2.4 billion; the share price is up 177% in one year and up 31% in the last week.
The stock appears to be in a long-term uptrend, confirmed by multiple indicators. Specifically, both the 20 and 200-day moving averages.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
NRW Holdings sinks after signing $750m mining contract
Ongoing concerns about its valuation - after a period of strong performance - appear to have shanghaied the market’s reaction to revelations that NRW Holdings (ASX: NWH) has signed a major new contract that, everything else being equal, should have nudged the price forward at the open.
The stock’s share price was trading 2.9% lower this afternoon.
The contract service provider’s wholly owned subsidiary, Golding Contractors Pty Ltd, has signed a mining services agreement with TEC Coal for the Stanwell Meandu Mine in Queensland’s Burnett Region.
The contract is valued at about $750 million over 5.5 years and includes a six-month mobilisation phase and a five-year operational period.
Under the agreement, TEC Coal will provide the major mining fleet, while Golding will manage the whole-of-mine operations, including three fleets of heavy mining equipment, a dragline, the processing plant, statutory responsibilities, and mine planning.
It’s understood that the contract will employ about 400 local staff.
Analysts raised concerns in December that the share price was looking decidedly toppy after more than doubling from a low of $2.60 early April last year.
Due to valuation concerns, Jefferies downgraded the stock to Hold last month after citing concerns that it was trading at the top of its 10-year valuation range - which limits potential upside.
Admittedly, previous full-year results from August 2025 - impacted by significant rainfall in Queensland and the write-off of debt related to the OneSteel client's insolvency – appear to be behind the company now.
However, analysts are concerned that the share price remains highly exposed to any bad news moving forward.
While today’s announced new $750 million contract - capital-light – is expected to contribute positively to future revenue, it has clearly failed to offset some of the negative sentiment, at least for now.
Given the magnitude of today’s contract coup, management’s details-light update provides no insights as to its impact on future earnings.
At full year FY25, the company reported revenue of $3.3 billion for the year, an increase of 12.2% compared to the prior financial year.
All three operating segments reported annual growth in revenue, with Civil ($823.7 million, up 25.7%) and MET ($932.0 million, up 17.7%) experiencing double-digit revenue growth.
NRW Holdings has a market cap of $2.5 billion; the share price is up 54% in one year and up 7% year to date.
The stock appears to be in a long-term uptrend, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
This article does not constitute financial or product advice. You should consider independent advice before making financial decisions.
