Azzet reports on three stocks with price moving updates today.
Credit Corp plunges on mixed 1H update ~
Shares in Credit Corp (ASX: CCP) were down around 15.9% by 2:15 pm AEDT (3:15 am GMT) after the financial services company posted a potpourri of first-half numbers, plus an interim dividend of 32 cents per share.
Despite a major cut to guidance from its U.S. buying division, which accounts for around 23% of the group's total revenue, management reaffirmed its guidance for net profit after tax growth of 6 to 17% in 2025-26.
However, what the market clearly didn’t like today were revelations profit of $44.1 million for the first six months to December was a miss against analysts’ forecasts of $49.7 million.
The other key negative was a reduction in U.S purchasing guidance - lowered from $200 230 million to $160 180 million - which still managed to post a profit of $11.7 million, up 64%.
The U.S. investment pipeline has expanded to $157 million due to additional forward flow volume, with full-year U.S. investment now projected to reach $160 million to $180 million.
Commenting on today’s update, Credit Corp CEO Thomas Beregi reassured the market that the U.S. debt collection outcomes have remained stable since mid-2023, despite a slight increase in unemployment.
In A/NZ, record half-year lending volumes and a 25% increase in new customers boosted the Wallet Wizard loan book to $442 million.
While first-half earnings were affected by robust loan book growth and interruptions to debt purchases in A/NZ, Beregi also told the market to expect a reversal of this trend in the second half.
Beregi is also confident that A/NZ debt ledger investment - rising to $120 150 million to offset softer U.S. investment – will support full-year profit guidance of $100 - 110 million and a second half uplift to around $61 million.
Looking forward, the group expects to maintain a conservative net gearing of 32% and expects to increase return on equity to 13% in 2025-26.
The company is also in preliminary discussions regarding a potential acquisition of buy now, pay later small cap Humm Group (ASX: HUM).
However, Credit Corp is only expected to acquire Humm at what it understands to be a sensible price.
But whether the group buys Humm or not, Beregi also reminded the market that the group has major organic growth opportunities within its operation.
To the uninitiated, Credit Corp manages purchased debt ledgers and provides consumer finance options, primarily in Australia, NZ, and the U.S, while Humm is a non-bank trans-Tasman lender with a licence to lend in the UK.
Credit Corp has a market cap of $838 million; the share price is down 18% in one year.
Between August and November 2025, the share price was in free fall from $1773 to $12.83 due to its removal from the S&P/ASX 200 Index and lingering concerns about difficult collection conditions in the U.S market.
Since then, it has struggled to recover lost ground.
The stock’s shares appear to be in a near-term uptrend, confirmed by its 20-day moving average.
Specifically, the 20-day moving average is rising and implies that investors see an opportunity for profit.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
Develop Global rallies on price target upgrade
Shares in Develop Global (ASX: DVP) - formerly known as Venturex Resources - were trading 7.1% higher after broker Canaccord maintained a Speculative Buy rating on the large cap mine owner and mining services provider.
To reflect the company's strong operational momentum and its transition into a multi-asset producer, the broker raised its target price by 12% to $5.05.
Underpinning Canaccord’s outlook on the stock was a significant "beat" in performance, due in part to a 10% increase in development metres at the Bellevue project, which led to a 21% rise in contract revenue.
Within its Q2 FY26 update, posted 28 January, Develop reported record group external revenue of $95 million with concentrate revenue alone soaring by 98.5% to $39.1 million.
Other project milestones highlighted during the Q2 update were:
- Woodlawn Zinc-Copper Project: Expected to reach steady-state production by the March quarter of 2026.
- Sulphur Springs: A final investment decision is anticipated for June 2026, with a projected pre-tax NPV of A$1.15 billion at spot prices.
The company secured a new $200 million underground mining services contract with OceanaGold, providing further revenue visibility.
Commenting on the Q2 update, Develop managing director Bill Beament told the market that the Q2 set the company for rapid growth in copper, zinc and silver/gold production.
“The impact of what will be a rapidly increasing production profile on our cashflow, particularly given the surge in commodity prices and the sharp falls in treatment costs, will be significant and more far-reaching than some in the market are expecting,” he said.
“Our five-year business plan targets annual production of 50,000t of copper-equivalent metal. The strong rampup at Woodlawn and the progress at Sulphur Springs puts us tracking well to our schedule.”
Beament also told investors that securing the OceanaGold contract means its mining services division now has two third-party contracts as targeted in the five-year plan.
Meanwhile, a revival in the lithium price is expected to provide a pathway to meeting the goal of producing 200,000tpa of lithium spodumene concentrate, or the equivalent via DSO.
Develop Global has a market cap of around $1.8 billion; the share price is up 120% in one year and up 19% in the last month.
The stock is in a strong bullish trend, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Specifically, a 5-day moving average of the stock price is above the 50-day moving average.
Additionally, both the 200 and 20-day moving averages are trending higher.
Consensus is Moderate Buy.
Solstice Minerals rockets on Nanadie Copper-Gold Project update
Solstice Minerals (ASX: SLS) resumed trading this morning after entering a halt on 29 January, with shares up 56% this afternoon on the strength of today’s much-awaited market update.
The gold and base metals small cap explorer reported outstanding initial assay results from the first five reverse circulation holes of a 23-hole Phase 1 drilling program at its flagship 100%-owned Nanadie Copper-Gold Project in WA’s Goldfields.
The drilling targeted areas beyond the existing 40.4Mt Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), with today's positive results validating aggressive plans to materially expand that resource.
Results include wide, high-grade copper-gold intercepts such as 62m at 1.55% Cu and 0.66g/t Au and 97m at 0.73% Cu and 0.30g/t Au, with many ending in mineralisation.
The new drilling extends higher-grade mineralisation well beyond the current mineral resource model and confirms that the system is open at depth, along strike and laterally, outlining a large, broadly mineralised mafic intrusive package favourable for future bulk-tonnage mining studies.
With $13.4 million in cash, Solstice is well funded to accelerate Phase 2 drilling aimed at materially expanding the existing resource and enhancing the project’s potential as a significant copper growth asset in a tightening global supply environment.
Commenting on today’s update, Solstice CEO Nick Castleden told the market that this extraordinary set of first results from the Nanadie Copper Gold Project represents a strong validation of the potential the geological team saw in the data.
He reminded the market that this is not a typical single-zone system, but a broad stack of mineralised mafic intrusive rocks, with disseminated sulphide-style copper-gold distributed over significant intervals.
“A best-ever grade intercept in drillhole NANRC004 and the wide intercepts returned in drillholes NANRC001 and NANRC004 that end in mineralisation, show that this is a system with potential for real scale as well as substantial zones of higher-grade material outside of the existing MRE,” he said.
“The system is clearly wide open at depth, and drill chip logging in the remaining holes has opened new geological targets and confirmed our belief that the MRE can be materially increased.”
Equally importantly, Castleden also reminded investors that mineralisation at Nanadie starts just below surface, below shallow soil cover and extends over significant strike, width and depth, features that may allow for future high-volume, low-strip extraction.
“Additionally, the underexplored soil-covered setting presents excellent future growth opportunities as we step onto extensional targets,” he added.
“Copper is seen as having an excellent long-term supply-demand outlook, as high-quality copper growth assets in established tier-1 mining jurisdictions and with investable approvals timelines become increasingly rare. We’ve made a cracking first step toward growing this asset and look forward to reporting the balance of our Phase 1 drilling results, and our future plans.”
The Company looks forward to reporting assay results for the remaining Phase 1 drillholes over the coming weeks, and a Phase 2 RC program is now in design to leverage off this work, with drilling to commence as soon as possible.
Solstice Minerals has a market cap of $77 million; the share price is up 335% in one year and up 51% in the last week.
The stock appears to be in a strong bullish trend, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus does not cover this stock.
This article does not constitute financial or product advice. You should consider independent advice before making financial decisions.
