Stocks making the biggest moves at noon: Domino's Pizza, Nick Scali, Sigma Healthcare and more

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

The S&P/ASX 200 is trading 10 points higher, up 0.11% on Friday as gains from Tech, Real Estate and Telcos offset the weakness among Healthcare and Energy stocks. The market needs to close roughly 6 points above current levels to log a fresh all-time high.

Domino's Pizza (ASX: DMP) – Shares soared as much as 23.8% after the company announced the closure of 205 loss-making stores, including 172 in Japan, in an effort to improve profitability and sharpen its market focus. This is expected to boost EBIT by $10-12 million though it will incur a one-off restructuring cost of $61.8 million. In the same update, the company also noted a positive start to the second half of fiscal 2025, with same-store sales growth of 4.3% across the group in the first five weeks. It's worth noting that Domino's is currently the fifth most shorted stock on the market, with short interest near record levels of 12.66%.

Nick Scali (ASX: NCK) – Shares in the furniture retailer jumped 12% following the release of its half-year FY25 results. Here are the key highlights:

• Group revenue up 10.8% to $251.1 million (0.3% ahead of Citi estimates)

• Stronger-than-expected performance from its Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) segment

• Underlying group net profit down 22.8% to $33.2 million, but exceeding previous guidance (Stronger-than-expected ANZ performance led NPAT to exceed Citi estimates by ~40%)

• Interim dividend of 30 cents per share, down 14.3% (in-line with estimates)

Pact Group (ASX: PGH) – Shares rallied 6.2% after the packaging company reported its preliminary first-half FY25 results. Here are the key highlights:

• Revenue up 3.5% to $929.5 million

• Underlying EBITDA up 4.6% to $124 million

• Underlying NPAT up 74.1% to $14.8 million

Sigma Healthcare (ASX: SIG) – Shares rallied 4.5% after the company upgraded its full-year EBIT guidance to $64-70 million from its previous guidance of $50-60 million. "The upgrade follows improved operational performance, including the strong execution of the new Chemist Warehouse supply contract that commenced on 1 July 2024, demonstrating our ability to efficiently absorb volume growth," the company said in a statement.

REA Group (ASX: REA) – Shares rallied 3.7% after the company received several broker upgrades in response to its first-half FY25 result released yesterday, including:

• Macquarie retained a Neutral rating but raised their target price by 2% to $270. "For us to become more constructive, REA would need to move harder on price within Australian listings, given that it clearly undercharges compared to agents," the report said

• Citi reiterated a Buy rating and $230 target price. "We expected limited consensus earnings revisions, with stronger revenue growth offset by higher costs," the analyst said.

• Morgan Stanley retained an Overweight weighting and $275 target price. The analysts believe "owning REA into an interest rate cut cycle makes sense."

McMillan Shakespeare (ASX: MMS) – Shares tumbled 8.0% after Bell Potter downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and slashed their target price by 24% to $15.80. The analysts said the company is cycling difficult comparisons with fading support from carry over revenue. They highlighted a number of risks including:

• Declining sales momentum due to slowing sales and stagnant EV penetration

• Growing EV volumes replacing ICE vehicles could pressure margins

Beach Energy (ASX: BPT) – Shares dipped another 6.1% after falling 5% on Thursday, in response to a weaker-than-expected first-half FY25 result.

• Macquarie retained a Neutral rating but downgraded their target price by 3.4% to $1.40

• Citi retained a Sell rating and cut their target price from $1.30 to $1.15