Insider Trades: 8 ASX directors bought these stocks last week

Welcome back to the Insider Trades Series – A weekly summary of on-market ASX director transactions valued at more than $10,000. The trades have all taken place between 31 January and 3 February. Directors have up to 5 business days to notify the ASX of their trades.

The volume of ASX 200 director transactions has been non-existent ahead of February reporting season, as companies enforce blackout periods restricting directors from buying or selling stock before earnings announcements. This trend extends to smaller companies as well, with limited buying — even among explorers and those not reporting results in February.

This week, we're tracking transactions from January 31 to February 3, with no sales recorded during this period.

Top ASX Insider Buys

Interesting Takeaways

Quantum Graphite mines, processes, and develops high-grade flake graphite products, primarily from its Uley project in South Australia. The company focuses on supplying materials for lithium-ion batteries and thermal energy storage applications.

Over the past week, insiders — including Managing Director Salvatore Catalano and three Non-Executive Directors — marked the first insider buys since November 2023.

Quantum's December quarter report highlighted several upcoming catalysts:

• US EXIM Bank funding: Lodgement of the final application for a

  US$300 million Direct Loan and Guarantee, marking the last step in EXIM's formal consideration.

• Exploration results: The "imminent" release of the Uley Region-wide JORC 2012 exploration target and final geophysical survey results.

Playside Studios is an Australian video game developer and publisher creating titles for mobile, PC, virtual reality, and other platforms.

The stock plunged 48% on Tuesday, 28 January, following weaker-than-expected first-half FY25 revenue and a full-year outlook downgrade.

• First-half FY25 revenue down 21% to $28.5m vs. $30m estimates (20% miss)

• Full-year revenue guidance between $50-54m compared to prior guidance of $62-68m (20% downgrade)

• Full-year EBITDA guidance between -$10m and -$6m compared to prior guidance of $0-5m

Despite the selloff, insider buying has emerged. Managing Director Gerry Sakkas purchased 100,000 shares ($20,165) on 30 January, joined by two Non-Executive Directors. However, Playside shares remain near their post-drop lows.