Azzet reports on three ASX stocks with price moving updates today.
Mandrake Resources rallies on strategic lithium supply deal ~
Shares in Mandrake Resources (ASX: MAN) were up around 4.4% by 1:40 pm AEDT (2:40 am GMT) after the small cap lithium explorer entered a deal with Stardust Power (NASDAQ: SDST) to supply lithium chloride from the Utah Lithium Project.
Aimed at strengthening the United States domestic battery supply chain, the offtake deal will see Mandrake supply 7,500 t pa of lithium chloride to Stardust Power’s Muskogee lithium processing facility in Oklahoma from its 100%-owned Utah Lithium Project.
It’s understood the facility has an anticipated production capacity of up to 50,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate per year.
One of America’s most significant planned lithium conversion facilities, the Muskogee refinery will, on completion, support battery-grade output for the expanding EV manufacturing network and strengthen domestic resource independence.
Commenting on today’s update, Mandrake’s managing director, James Allchurch, told the market that the initial 12-year letter of intent, extendable by six years, highlights the scale and quality of the Utah Lithium Project, while also reflecting the accelerating drive towards US energy independence.
Stardust Power co-founder Pablo Cortegoso says there is a strong alignment between the Utah Project and the company’s vision for a fully integrated American lithium supply chain.
“The project is a well-positioned U.S. brine asset with a clear path to development, offering scale, access to existing infrastructure, and a large brine resource that could be advanced efficiently with limited capital intensity,” Cortegoso said.
Stardust is positioned to take advantage of strong state support to strengthen Oklahoma’s industrial base with more than US$275 million ($420.3 million) in funding potentially available through cash incentives, rebates, and tax credits.
Covering 379km2 the Utah Project is located in the Paradox Basin of the U.S.
Mandrake Resources is a mineral explorer focused on advancing lithium projects in the ‘lithium four corners’ Paradox Basin in south-eastern Utah.
The company is strategically positioned to contribute to the localisation of the U.S. battery supply chain, enhancing energy independence through its operations in the Paradox Basin.
Today’s update follows game-changing results from its Lithium Brine Flow Modelling Study two weeks ago, which identified two distinct high-grade lithium concentration "sweet spots" within its 100%-owned Utah Lithium Project.
With the project already hosting an Inferred Resource of 3.3Mt Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) across 93,755 acres, these findings are understood to establish the company as a significant player in America's domestic lithium supply chain.
Mandrake Resources has a market cap of $15 million; the share price is down 7% in one year and up 13% year to date.
The stock appears to be in a long-term uptrend because its 200-day moving average is upward-sloping and shows that there has been overall investor demand for the stock.
However, the stochastic oscillator is falling and indicates that there is some selling pressure.
Consensus does not cover this stock.
HealthCo soars after disclosing Healthscope has finally paid all outstanding rent
Shares in HealthCo Healthcare and Wellness REIT (ASX: HCW) were up over 11.8% after the property trust told the market that the financially distressed hospital operator Healthscope had finally made good on all rent outstanding from earlier this year.
In addition to Healthscope paying all deferred rent for the May to October period, HealthCo has also confirmed that rent for November has been paid in full.
Today’s update provides welcome relief for shareholders following the listed landlord’s breach notice to Healthscope after the country’s second-largest private hospital operator failed to pay all its March rent.
The REIT has previously told shareholders it would not provide any March quarter distribution after its basket-case tenant failed to pay rent.
While Healthscope has agreed to pay back deferred rent, it wrote to its landlords last week requesting permanent rent reductions.
Meanwhile, HealthCo reiterated that it has entered into conditional agreements with alternative tenants for the 11 Healthscope hospitals that HMC owns, but has not disclosed who those tenants are.
HealthCo is one of the biggest landlords; it co-owns the properties from which 11 of Healthscope’s 38 national hospitals operate.
It’s understood that the conditional agreements include detailed commercial terms that are acceptable to the landlords, who will look to enter into final lease agreements with these alternative tenants should the current receiver-led Healthscope sale process fail to result in one or more proposed assignees and lease arrangements that the landlords consent to.
As one of the biggest landlords, HealthCo co-owns the properties from which 11 of Healthscope’s 38 national hospitals operate.
HealthCo also noted media speculation that Healthscope could be reconstituted as a not-for-profit but said it had not received any proposal from the hospital operator or its advisers relating to such a plan.
Following aggregated receipt of settled and exchanged asset sales in FY26 of $68.8 million, HealthCo said its June 2025 pro-forma cash and undrawn debt was $137.5 million.
June 2025 pro-forma gearing was 29.2%, which is below the 30% to 40% target gearing range.
Within today’s portfolio update, HealthCo also noted that occupancy is ~99% across the portfolio, while year-to-date contracted cash rent collections are 100% - noting that Healthscope represents 59% of total income on a look-through basis.
HealthCo Healthcare and Wellness REIT has a market cap of $407 million; the share price is down 35% in one year and up 8% in the last week.
The stock’s sentiment among investors has been weak, resulting in a bearish sloping 200-day moving average.
More recently, the stock has fallen dramatically enough to register in the oversold region of the Stochastic Oscillator.
This is positive in that it means the recent momentum is unsustainable and there could be a near-term rally.
Consensus is Hold.
DroneShield jumps again on $25 million contract win
Shares in DroneShield (ASX: DRO) resumed the most recent ascent it staged mid-September, with the ASX defence darling up 1.7% this afternoon after advising the market has received a $25.3 million contract from an unnamed reseller on behalf of a government defence-end customer in Latin America.
DroneShield expects to deliver all equipment throughout Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, with cash payment expected during the same period.
DroneShield has previously received seven standalone orders from this reseller between March 2019 and July 2025, totalling $2.9 million.
Commenting on the latest in a recent string of market-moving contract coups, DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik told the market that this new contract continues to position the company as one of the preferred C-UAS systems in Latin America.
“As demand continues to evolve, DroneShield is ready to meet the requirements from a region where drones play a key role in the modern warfare,” Vornik said.
Founded in 2014 and based in inner Sydney, Ultimo Droneshield, now a world leader in counter-drone technology, is in an ongoing cat-and-mouse game with Chinese and Russian drone makers.
The company recently announced third-quarter revenue of $92.9 million, a more than 1,000 % increase from the third quarter of 2024.
Personnel numbers have risen from 250 to 400 in the last 10 months.
In addition to a 3,000 square metre Sydney production facility and a research and development centre in Adelaide, there are plans for European and U.S. manufacturing next year.
“All together this will aim to lift our production capacity from about $500 million a year to $2.4 billion, roughly a five times increase,” Vornik said.
“We are seeing an enormous amount of demand and it would be a shame for us to miss that because we can’t fulfill larger contracts.”
While 90% of company revenues are currently linked to defence, that’s expected to move to 50-50 military and civil applications over the next five years.
“Today to our knowledge there is not a single airport around the world that has a fully adequate counter-drone system which is pretty shocking,” Vornik said.
“There is very significant danger here. All that is going to change and drive significant opportunity for us.”
While 95% of Droneshield’s business is in exports, this could change as the Australian Defence Force (ADF) rolls out its new counter-drone defences under project Land 156.
DroneShield has a market cap of $3.5 billion; the share price is up 322% in one year and down 22% in the last month.
Despite the near-term weakness the stock is showing, it appears to be in a long-term uptrend, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Specifically, a 5-day moving average of the stock price is above the 50-day moving average, and the 200-day moving average is trending higher.
The near-term weakness is characterised by the 5-day moving averages falling beneath the 20-day moving average.
This may provide a suitable entry point for long-term investors looking for a stock that is trending higher.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
This article does not constitute financial or product advice. You should consider independent advice before making financial decisions.
