Stocks making the biggest moves at noon: WiseTech, ResMed, HMC Capital and more

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

Wisetech Global (ASX: WTC) – The stock rallied as much as 22% in early trade after CEO Richard White announced plans to stand down as Director and CEO, with immediate effect. Mr White will commence a new full-time, long-term consulting role, focused on product and business development. Analysts remained near-universally bullish on the stock, viewing the current volatility as a buying opportunity for long-term investors. Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to a Buy overnight, citing "we believe the significant sell off in WTC presents a compelling opportunity to buy one of Australia’s best global growth stories, ahead of an acceleration in its organic earnings growth."

Talga Group (ASX: TLG) – Has been selected for an EU Innovation fund grant for its commercial anode refinery in Sweden, for up to $115 million. The stock is up 15% but still down almost 50% year-to-date.

ResMed (ASX: RMD) – Shares in the medical equipment company rallied 5% after reporting a robust first-quarter FY25 result. The key standout was the 420 bp rise in gross margins to 59.2% (consensus 58.7%) and a 42% jump in earnings per share to $2.11 (consensus: $2.05). You can find some of the key insights from the 1Q25 earnings call here.

HMC Capital (ASX: HMC) – Shares in the asset manager soared 8.7% to all-time highs following the completion of a $300 million placement at $8.75 per share (5% discount to previous close). The proceeds will be used to acquire Global Switch Australia, a large-scale data centre campus in the densely-connected Sydney CBD.

Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC) – The Queensland and NSW-based coal miner reported 1Q25 ROM coal production of 9.68Mt, in-line with the June quarter and ahead of market expectations of 9.45Mt. “Our costs are tracking towards the bottom end of our full year cost guidance," noted CEO Paul Flynn.

Insignia Financial (ASX: IFL) – UBS analysts upgraded the stock from Sell to Neutral and hiked their target price from $2.30 to $3.10. Insignia reported its 1Q25 quarterly business update on Thursday, with funds under management and administration up 2.7% quarter-on-quarter to $319.6 billion.

Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) – Shares in the diversified miner dipped 4.7% amid ongoing issues around its CEO Chris Ellison. According to the Financial Review, two MinRes board members, including Mr Ellison, purchased thousands of dollars worth of mining equipment from the company at significant discounts to market rates. He is currently facing inquiries from ASIC and an investigation by external counsel appointed by the Board into an alleged offshore tax evasion scheme.

Supermarket stocks – Metcash shares dipped 2.4% to levels not seen since July 2021 after a trading update flagged further challenges in its hardware business. "Metcash is responding to the weaker trading conditions in Hardware by implementing additional cost management initiatives and accelerating its strategic initiatives to drive market share gains in both Trade and DIY," the company said in a statement. This weakness may also be dragging peers like Wesfarmers (-1.1%), Woolworths (-0.7%) and Coles (-0.5%) lower.