Stocks making the biggest moves at noon: Appen, Iluka Resources, Ora Banda Mining and more

Here are the ASX companies and sectors making headlines in afternoon trade.

The S&P/ASX 200 is currently down 0.83% and hovering intraday lows. Energy (+0.32%) is the only sector that's trading in positive territory, while Healthcare, Discretionary and Tech are all down more than 1.0%. The small end of town is experiencing far more weakness, with the S&P/ASX Emerging Companies Index down 1.8%.

Appen (ASX: APX) – Shares in the former tech darling rallied as much as 32% in early trade after its 4Q25 results highlighted revenue growth of 10% year-on-year to $73.4 million, along with a sizeable 182% increase in underlying EBITDA to $13.3 million. “Q4 was a strong finish to the year for both our China and Global businesses. Appen China exited the quarter with an annualised revenue run-rate growing to over $135 million," said Managing Director Ryan Kolln.

Uranium stocks are trading broadly higher, with uranium prices surging 7.8% overnight to US$98.30/lb, the highest level since February 2024.

Source: Market Index

Iluka Resources (ASX: ILU) – Shares in the mineral sands producer fell 11.7% ($5.67) after posting strong Q4 production but flagging a sizeable $350 million pre-tax non-cash impairment mainly relating to its Cataby mine, synthetic rutile kilns and South West WA project studies. The company also recorded inventory write-downs of around $215 million due to lower price expectations, though full-year Z/R/SR production of 559.1kt beat some analyst estimates by 18%.

Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC) – The rare earths miner dipped as much as 11.6% as the sector sold off sharply following news that the US government is abandoning plans to guarantee minimum prices for domestic critical minerals projects. Two senior Trump administration officials told minerals executives that projects must demonstrate financial viability without government price support, citing legal and funding constraints after a price floor granted to MP Materials highlighted that Congress had not authorised such funding.

Note: MP Materials has made an X post calling the Reuters report as inaccurate, misleading, and inconsistent with the facts. The company reiterated that it has a binding, long-term agreement with the US Department of War, including the price protection agreement. Most ASX-listed rare earth stocks have since bounced from intraday lows, but still red for the day.

Ora Banda Mining (ASX: OBM) – Shares tumbled 13.3% after the gold miner delivered a disappointing December quarter, with production of 32.0koz missing estimates by 14% and AISC rising to $3,505/oz vs. expectations of $2,926/oz. The company reaffirmed FY26 production guidance at 140–155koz but now expects to hit the lower end. AISC guidance has increased 15.8% at the midpoint to $3,250–3,350/oz, while growth capital guidance jumped 66% to $143 million.

Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC) – The coal producer gained 2.8% after reporting stronger-than-expected Q2 results, with managed ROM coal production of 11.0Mt beating estimates by 11% and saleable coal production of 8.68Mt exceeding forecasts by 7%. Unit costs came in at the low end of FY26 guidance at around $135/t, with management citing strong volumes from Narrabri, as well as favourable weather and mining conditions at Queensland operations Daunia and Blackwater.

Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) – Shares initially rallied 3.7% (but are now down 1.7%) after the diversified miner reported higher-than-expected iron ore and spodumene shipments, with attributable iron ore shipments of 7.2 Mwmt beating estimates by 3%, and total spodumene shipments of 166kt surging 35% above expectations. The company upgraded its FY26 lithium guidance, with Wodgina now expected to ship 260-280kt SC6 vs. prior guidance of 220-240kt, though iron ore realised prices of $91/dmt came in slightly below estimates.

IGO (ASX: IGO) – The lithium and nickel producer fell 5.9% despite reporting steady Q2 results, with Greenbushes spodumene production recovering 10% quarter-on-quarter to 352kt in line with expectations and Nova nickel production of 3.8kt beating estimates by 9%. The company reaffirmed FY26 guidance but noted that the Kwinana refinery remains high-cost, with limited return potential despite higher production and lithium hydroxide prices.

Lithium stocks are trading broadly lower amid a pullback in prices. Chinese lithium carbonate futures opened 2.0% lower this morning, falling to 166,820 yuan a tonne.

Source: Market Index