Azzet reports on three stocks with price moving updates today.
Orica rises after CEO flags ‘strong finish’ to FY25
Shares in Orica (ASX: ORI) were trading up 1.6% by 12:50 pm AEST (2:50 am GMT) after the explosives manufacturer announced a “strong finish” to FY25 after reporting a first-half loss in May but guided to higher net finance costs.
Second-half earnings from its three core segments are on track to be higher than the previous period.
However, net finance costs are set to end at the top of its A$190-200 million guidance range and depreciation and amortisation are expected to be between $490 million - $500 million for FY25.
These two factors may explain why early morning gains were retracing throughout trading today.
It’s understood that litigation costs for ongoing intellectual property and commercial disputes of $39 million to $42 million after tax will be recognised as second-half significant items.
Commenting on today’s result, management told the market that while its blasting solutions business continues to perform strongly, earnings growth was partly offset by lower volumes in Indonesia and the U.S. due to reduced demand for thermal coal.
While the group’s core blasting business remains resilient, supported by the ongoing adoption of our innovative products and services, digital solutions continues to expand its scale on the back of increased exploration activity, particularly in gold and copper.
Then there’s the specialty mining chemicals operation, which has delivered robust earnings due to new contract awards in cyanide and emulsifiers despite the extended safety maintenance activities this year at the Winnemucca plant, which are now completed.
“The positive momentum from the first half of 2025 has continued into the second half, with all three segments demonstrating profitable growth,” said CEO Sanjeev Gandhi.
“Our continued earnings growth, together with the well-progressed share buyback program, continue to deliver value for our shareholders.”
Back in July, Orica was conditionally awarded $432-million in funding from the Australian government to support the operation of the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub.
Later that month the group announced it had successfully completed the issuance of US$390 million (equivalent) of fixed-rate unsecured notes.
Late July, Commsec analysts reached a consensus 'strong buy' rating on the stock, while UBS had a buy rating with a 12-month share price target of $32.
The stock was trading at $20.85 heading into lunch today.
Orica has a market cap of $9.9 billion.
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.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
Peak Rare Earths rallies after Chinese suitor raises takeover offer
Shares in Peak Rare Earths (ASX: PEK) were up around 24.5% after the small-cap miner revealed that Chinese suitor Shenghe Resources has sweetened its takeover offer.
Under the revised scheme, Shenghe now values Peak at $195 million, offering shareholders no less than $0.443 a share in cash, which equates to a 32% premium on Peak’s share price yesterday.
Back in May Shenghe originally offered $150.5 million, plus the proceeds of a $7.5 million capital raise, to buy out the rest of Peak it doesn’t already own, which valued Peak at roughly 36 cents a share.
Shenghe has made it clear that today’s revised offer is it best and final proposal and will not increase the consideration further, subject to no competing proposal for Peak emerging.
The Peak Independent Board Committee unanimously recommends shareholders vote in favour of the Scheme, in the absence of a superior proposal.
Shenghe, which is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation of about $2.9-billion, is already Peak’s biggest shareholder through its Singapore subsidiary, holding a 19.86% interest.
Shenghe also has binding offtake rights to 100% of rare earth concentrate from Peak’s 84%-owned Ngualla rare earth project in Tanzania.
Peak Rare Earths has a market cap of $180 million; the share piece is up 128% in one year and up 300% year to date.
The stock is in a strong bullish trend confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus on 19 June was Strong Buy.
SiteMinder moves higher in response to ASX ‘please explain’
Shares in SiteMinder (ASX: SDR) were trading 1.2% higher after the hotel booking software large cap responded to an ASX letter sent earlier this week in relation to its 21.1% share price jump to $6.60 after announcing “in-line” results on August 27.
“SiteMinder is not able to make definitive comments as to the factors influencing trading in its securities,” the company said today.
“The company notes that following the release of its FY25 results, a number of sell-side analyst reports described the performance as ‘in-line’ and ‘solid’ as well as being supportive of a re-rating in valuation. Fifteen of the 17 sell-side analysts who opine on SiteMinder rated the company’s shares a ‘buy’, and the average price target of all covering analysts increased from $6.18 to $7.63 following the in-line FY25 result.”
Meanwhile, Jarden analysts Ed Woodgate and Christian Waked noted at the time that SiteMinder's unlevered free cash flow (FCF) of $4.7 million came in comfortably above their estimates of $2.7 million and consensus forecasts of negative $3.2 million.
"Our view in May was SiteMinder presented FCF upside risk, a meet = equals a beat and that risks of downgrades to FY26/27 were in the price, with SiteMinder's multiple implying investors got the new products for free and, arguably, the transaction business," the analysts said.
While Jarden had a 'buy' rating on the stock with a price target of $4.45, the share price has jumped from $4.22 mid-July to around $6.80 today after hitting a high of $6.91 late August.
SiteMinder’s free cash flow for the previous year was a negative $6.4 million.
The company's underlying net loss was $17.2 million, with the gap between that and its reported loss of $24.5 million largely due to $6.7 million in restructuring costs.
"Since our IPO, we've improved underlying EBITDA by $36.7 million — from a $22.4 million loss to a $14.3 million profit — while maintaining strong revenue growth,” said CEO Sankar Narayan following the FY25 result.
Building on FY25’s 27.2% organic growth and second-half revenue momentum, Narayan told the market that SiteMinder is positioned to deliver strong annual recurring revenue growth in FY26.
SiteMinder has a market cap of $1.9 billion; the share price is up 38% in one year and 2% in the last week.
The stock appears to be in a medium-term rally, confirmed by multiple indicators. Most importantly, the 5-day moving average is above both the 20 and 50-day moving averages.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
This article does not constitute financial or product advice. You should consider independent advice before making financial decisions.
