Azzet reports on three stocks with price moving updates today.
Sims surges on profit guidance ~
Shares Sims Limited (ASX: SGM) were trading 8.5% higher by 2 pm AEDT (3 am GMT) after the recycling giant took the market by surprise with a major upgrade to earnings guidance.
Due to strong non-ferrous metal prices and buoyant memory chip markets, management told the market to expect an underlying EBIT of between $350 million and $400 million, a whopping 114% increase on last year’s $174.9 million.
Given that management flagged a “meaningful improvement” for 1H FY26 back in February, today’s update shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise.
However, what appears to have caught the market off guard the most is Sims Lifecycle Services (SLS) division’s reported 247.5% jump in underlying EBIT, far exceeding previous projections due to massive global demand for used DDR4 chips fuelled by AI data centre expansions.
The ongoing Middle East conflict has had only a limited operational impact so far; however, the metals business faced headwinds due to the impact of Chinese steel exports on scrap prices.
While the outlook for ferrous prices in Australia and NZ remains muted in the short term, Sims expects a strong third quarter and a materially improved second half in both its North America Metals (NAM) and South America Regions (SAR) divisions.
The is expected to unveil more about its SLS segment and key business drivers at the upcoming Investor Day to be held in Nashville on 25 March.
The share price moved higher on 17 February after reporting a 70.9% jump in underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) to $60 million and a 3.7% lift in sales revenue for the half year ended 31 December 2025.
Other noteworthy 1H FY26 numbers included:
- Underlying EBIT surged 65.9% to $121.1 million
- Statutory NPAT was a loss of $29.9 million, due to significant one-off items.
- Interim dividend increased 40% to 14 cents per share.
- Return on Invested Capital improved to 6.2%.
Goldman Sachs recently upgraded the recycling giant from Sell to Neutral – with a target of $20.00 - citing surging earnings from its technology lifecycle division and reduced downside risk following recent weakness.
Sims Limited has a market cap of $4 billion; the share price is up 34% in one year and up 13% in the last week.
While the stock’s 200-day moving average is trending higher, there is significant evidence that the long-term bullish trend is near an end.
Specifically, recent price action has been weak and the 5-day moving average is below both the 20 and 50-day moving averages.
Consensus is Hold.
Humm leaps on Takeover panel findings
Shares in Humm Group (ASX: HUM) were trading 5.3% higher, with investors reacting positively to today’s revelations that the Australian Takeovers Panel found that the buy now pay later company’s disclosures regarding a takeover bid from Credit Corp (ASX: CCP) were deemed misleading.
While it’s not immediately clear why the market gave today’s update the thumbs up, it clearly addresses long-standing governance concerns and mandate transparency regarding Credit Corp’s $385 million takeover bid.
The Takeovers Panel has declared “unacceptable circumstances” at ASX-listed Humm Group after finding the company’s announcements on a proposed takeover by Credit Corp Group were misleading.
While Humm told the market on 17 December it was “carefully evaluating” and “willing to engage” on Credit Corp’s non-binding 77¢-a-share offer, it’s understood that Humm's chair and major shareholder, Andrew Abercrombie, had already decided to reject the proposal weeks earlier and instructed advisers not to recommend it.
Other misleading omissions flagged by The Panel include the failure to disclose that no independent board committee would be established for the proposal.
To make matters worse, Humm’s 14 January communique only reaffirmed the misimpression by implying ongoing engagement with Credit Corp when, in fact, the board had already rejected the offer.
The Panel also concluded that Abercrombie’s purchase of 3% of Humm shares in December 2025, shortly after the misleading announcement, was unacceptable as it could affect control outcomes and shareholder voting.
The Panel said the conduct undermined an efficient, competitive and informed market and is still considering final orders.
Meanwhile, an extraordinary general meeting seeking the removal of Abercrombie as a director, along with now chairman Robert Hines and director Andrew Darbyshire, has been shelved until 1 May.
Credit Corp’s initial bid follows Abercrombie’s The Abercrombie Group (TAG) made a 58-cent takeover offer for Humm in June last year, which was subsequently withdrawn five months later.
To avoid a declaration of "unacceptable circumstances", Humm is now required to accept several critical undertakings that protect minority shareholders:
Unsurprisingly, a new committee has been established to evaluate the Credit Corp offer, strictly excluding Abercrombie due to clear conflicts of interest.
Humm must now provide Credit Corp with access to a due diligence data room, potentially reviving the 77-cent-per-share bid that the previous board had stalled.
The company must appoint its CEO to the board and hire an additional independent non-executive director to lead the Independent Board Committee evaluate the Credit Corp offer.
Humm Group Limited has a market cap of $350 million; the share price is up 35% in one year and up 4% in the last week.
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.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
Lodestar Minerals soars on Virgin Mountain update
Shares in Lodestar Minerals Limited (ASX: LSR) were trading 38.5% higher this afternoon after the gold and base metals explorer revealed positive results from its critical minerals exploration - specifically at the Virgin Mountain REE Project in Arizona – which could position it strategically for funding and partnership opportunities.
In addition to containing high proportions of valuable heavy rare earth elements like dysprosium, terbium, and lutetium, mineralogy results also confirmed Xenotime as the dominant mineral at the Virgin Mountain project.
As the dominant rare earth element (REE)-bearing mineral within rock chip samples taken from the project, the confirmation of Xenotime is expected to underpin the Heavy Rare Earth (HREE) potential of the Virgin Mountain project.
Commenting on today’s update, Lodestar executive director Coraline Blaud told the market that these latest findings highlight the potential strategic value of the Virgin Mountain project in the U.S.
“Mineralogy reports have returned exactly what we are looking for from a HREE project,” she said.
“With xenotime confirmed as the dominant rare-earth-bearing mineral, we can now confidently state that mineralisation at Virgin Mountain represents a potential source of heavy rare-earth elements, particularly the high-value elements dysprosium, terbium and lutetium.”
While Xenotime is currently one of the few HREE-dominant minerals with a proven commercial processing pathway, dysprosium, terbium, and lutetium are crucial for developing critical defence systems in the USA.
They’re also essential for EV motors, wind turbines, defence and guidance systems, radar technology, advanced military electronics, and nuclear reactors.
Lodestar Minerals is on track to commence U.S. field activities in early April to work towards advancing Virgin Mountain into an advanced economic heavy rare earth asset.
Initial follow-up will involve compiling applicable geophysical data for pre-trip assessment and detailed targeted capture of the shear zone at the surface along the 5km regional mapping.
The exploration team will aim to identify further outcropping mineralisation along this shear zone and determine any extensions that may exist under alluvial cover.
This is expected to underpin future drill planning and/or other ground-disturbing activities.
Earlier this month, Lodestar reported visible copper sulphides (chalcopyrite) in the maiden diamond drill hole at the Three Saints Project in Region III of northern Chile.
During the December quarter, the miner successfully raised $3.25 million to accelerate exploration across its portfolio.
Lodestar Minerals has a market cap of $20 million; the share price is up 41% in one year and up 44% in the last week.
The stock’s shares appear to be in a near-term rally within a longer-term bearish trend.
Consensus does not cover this stock.
This article does not constitute financial or product advice. You should consider independent advice before making financial decisions.
