Stocks making the biggest moves at noon: Judo Capital, HMC, Hub24 and more

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

Judo Capital (ASX: JDO) – Shares rallied 10% after the company reported a better-than-expected set of 1H25 results, supported by lower impairments and solid net interest margins. The key highlights include:

• Pre-provision profit up 7% half-on-half to $85.5 million or a 3% miss vs. consensus of $88.1 million

• Cash earnings up 70% half-on-half to $40.9 million or 13% ahead of $36.3 million consensus

• Net interest margin of 2.81% or 2 basis points below consensus

• Net interest margin guidance upgraded to upper end of 2.90% to 3.00% for FY25, with an exit NIM of ~3%

HMC Capital (ASX: HMC) – Shares soared 12.5% after the alternative asset manager posted a strong 1H25 result, driven by a 45% half-on-half increase in assets under management to $18.5 billion. The key highlights include (vs. Jarden estimates):

• Pre-tax earnings per share up 204% to 51.9 cents vs. 37.4 cents estimates

• Underlying earnings per share up 218% to 15 cents, in-line with estimates as lower investment income and higher corporate expenses offset higher management fees

• Interim dividend of 6 cents per share, in-line with consensus

Hub24 (ASX: HUB) – Shares rallied 6.5% but pulled back from session highs of 13.8% after the company posted a mixed 1H25 result. The stock may be under pressure due to valuation concerns and the ~130% run in the past twelve months.

• Revenue up 24.6% to $195.2 million (2.5% beat vs. consensus)

• EBITDA up 41.1% to $77.6 million (5.4% beat)

• Adjusted NPAT up 40.1% to $42.6 million (0.6% miss)

• Dividend up 29.7% to 24 cents per share (2.6% miss)

• Upgraded FY26 funds under management guidance to $123-135 billion (from $115-123 billion)

Monadelphous (ASX: MND) – Shares rose 5.8% after the company posted a strong half-year FY25 result, with net profit after tax climbing 41.3% to $42.5 million. The result was largely pre-guided from a trading update on 24 January.

Audinate (ASX: AD8) – Shares rallied another 7.4% after a 26.5% rally on Monday. Jefferies upgraded the stock to a Buy (from Hold) and raised its target price to $12 (from $9) in response to yesterday's half-year result.

A2 Milk (ASX: A2M) – A2 Milk has also received a notable broker upgrade, with its shares up 2.6% after a 19.6% jump on Monday. Macquarie analysts upgraded the stock to Overweight (from Neutral) and raised their target price to $7.85 (from $5.70).

Resimac (ASX: RMC) – Shares tumbled 14% after the non-bank lender reported a 12% decline in unaudited 1H25 net profit after tax to $15 million, citing 'a significant increase in collective provisioning'. The company noted a rise in arrears within its asset finance portfolio, with net write-offs surging to $6.5 million from $2.9 million a year ago. As a result, management believes it is "probable" that the Group will fall short of its NPAT expectations for FY25.

Challenger (ASX: CGF) – Challenger's shares fell 10% following the release of its half-year results. Despite a 12% increase in normalised net profit after tax to $225 million, the company's statutory net profit after tax of $72 million and a weaker COE margin disappointed some analysts.

Bapcor (ASX: BAP) – Shares fell 6.3% after the company's Chief Financial Officer George Saoud tendered his resignation to pursue an opportunity external to the company. His departure comes ahead of the company's 1H25 result, set for release on Wednesday, 26 February.

Baby Bunting (ASX: BBN) – Shares eased 2.7% after the company delivered a first-half result that was largely in line with guidance, with net profit rising 37.3% to $4.8 million. A key surprise was the Board’s decision to withhold an interim dividend to support the Group’s capital expenditure and growth initiatives. This contrasts with Morgans' expectation of a 2.3 cents per share payout.