Azzet reports on three ASX stocks with price moving updates today.
Web Travel rallies on booking surge
Shares in Web Travel Group (ASX: WEB) were trading around 10% higher at the open after the hotel aggregator business told the market it was on track to deliver record earnings for the year ending 31 March.
What captured the market’s attention this morning was the hint of a strong first-half bookings surge ahead of its interim results due out on 25 November.
Today’s update flags a significant upswing in activity for the company’s core operations.
The preliminary bookings and total transaction value (TTV) update for its WebBeds business for the six months to September 30 (1H FY26) saw the travel trade site record 5.07 million bookings – up 18% on the previous period’s 4.3 million.
Total transaction value (TTV) booked at $3.17 billion is also up 22% on the previous period’s $2.59 billion.
With the notable exception of Middle East & Africa (MEA), TTV across all other regions delivered double-digit growth, with the America’s up 27% followed by Europe and Asia Pacific, both up 12%.
Meanwhile, FY26 TTV margins continue to be on track to be at least 6.5% (FY25: 6.7%).
As indicated at the company’s 2025 AGM, 1H26 TTV margins are expected to be 6.2 to 6.4% reflecting the sale of the DMC (Destination Management Company) business in March 2025 (that accounted for circa 0.2% of the 6.6% TTV margin in 1H25), as well as portfolio mix changes.
At the AGM late August, Web Travel Group’s managing director, John Guscic, told the market that WebBeds was continuing to outperform its peers.
“TTV for the first half of the financial year is on track to exceed $3.1 billion, with strong growth continuing to come through in the Americas, as well as Asia Pacific and Europe,” he noted.
“For a two-week period in June, we saw a material increase in cancellations globally due to the Israel-Iran conflict. Trading has since picked up in other regions; however, the Middle East continues to see ongoing weakness.”
The group reported FY25 earnings of $138.8 million on revenue of $328.4 million.
At 31 March, the group had cash of $363.3 million.
With early gains quickly unravelling (up just 2.7% by 1:25 pm AEDT), it’s evident that investors saw today’s spike as an opportune exit point.
Given that the stock has bounced lower following its recent high of $5.35 back in May, some investors may have lost patience with the stock, while others may be holding on in the hope that a buyout may not be far away.
In response to recent results, Macquarie upgraded Web Travel back in May to an outperform rating and lifted its price target by 28% to $6.19 from $4.83 previously.
“We expect WEB will continue to scale TTV and are increasingly confident it will reach its $10bn FY30 target,” the broker noted.
“WEB should outperform other ASX travel peers in volatile macro conditions.”
Given that Web Travel Group is currently trading at around $4.23, the stock may receive broker upgrades in the wake of its interim result.
Web Travel has a market cap of $1.5 billion; the share price is down 40% in one year and is up 3.2% in the last week.
The stock’s shares appear to be in a long-term bearish trend, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus does not cover this stock.
Acusensus rallies after bagging first major US contract win
Shares in Acusensus (ASX: ACE) were up 17.9% by 1:25 pm AEDT (2:25 am GMT) after the Driver-safety technology company secured its first major U.S. state-wide automated speed enforcement contract, worth US$22.6 million (A$34 million) over five years, with the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
While the U.S. has been a key focus for Acusensus after the company established a regional headquarters in Las Vegas in early 2023, today’s contract coup represents the Melbourne-based group’s largest U.S. contract to date.
Acusensus, which deploys traffic enforcement technology in four Australian states and the ACT, boosted the number of U.S. states using its technology to six in FY25 – up from one a year earlier.
The contract with the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) follows smaller deals with transport authorities in Arkansas and Kentucky, in addition to programs already underway in North Carolina and Georgia.
The CTDOT program will deploy up to 15 mobile speed enforcement cameras for work zones starting in November 2025, with Acusensus handling image review, licence plate lookups, and violation notices.
Revenue from the contract comes largely via fixed monthly and "per deployment" fees.
As well as monitoring driver speed in work zones, the latest contract with the CTDOT requires Acusensus to perform image review services, including licence plate lookups and the preparation of violation notices to be mailed to speeding drivers.
“I am very proud of our team for growing our business and reputation in the USA to secure this first automated enforcement camera program,” says Acusensus founder and managing director Alexander Jannink.
“This contract marks a step change in our U.S. business and validates a well thought out strategy that we have set in motion over a number of years to grow the business in multiple sequential stages.”
Jannink expects the CTDOT program to serve as an exceptional reference point to enable further successes in its U.S. business.
Today’s contact update follows heels of WA signing a new $8.7 million contract last month – virtually doubling of the existing deal Acusensus has with the state government.
While Acusensus has a strong cash position, it has received credit-approved non-binding term sheets from major banks to provide up to $25 million to further support business growth.
Acusensus has a market cap of $232 million; the share price has doubled in the last year and is 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.
Mesoblast Ltd jumps following Ryoncil revenue surge
Shares in Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB) were up around 6.2% after the clinical-stage biotechnology company updated the market on strong sales of its paediatric Ryoncil product in the U.S.
Despite recent concerns over U.S. tariffs, the company reported a 66% increase in quarterly gross revenue from its Ryoncil sales.
The stock’s share price has been on a tear since releasing its September quarter trading update.
The ASX 200 healthcare stock reported gross revenue of US$21.9 million on its Ryoncil sales for the three months to September 30.
The company reminded the market that the Ryoncil product is the first mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for any indication.
Ryoncil is also the only product approved for children under the age of 12 with steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease.
Commenting on recent revenue growth, Mesoblast CEO Silviu Itescu told the market that it expects [Ryoncil] adoption to be further enhanced following the permanent J-Code assigned by the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which became active on 1 October.
Given that all the company’s allogeneic cell therapy products are manufactured from U.S. donors in the U.S. and designated as U.S. origin products, they are not subject to tariffs on imported branded or patented pharmaceutical products.
Mesoblast Ltd has a market cap of $3.5 billion; the share price is up 81% in the last year and up down 11% year to date.
The stock appears to be in a strong bullish trend 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.
