These are the ASX companies and sectors making headlines in afternoon trade.
Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX: NEU) – Shares rallied 7.9% after the company reiterated its 2024 income guidance of $216-218 million at a JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. Today's strength may also reflect an oversold bounce after the stock's 8.2% decline on Wednesday.
Genesis Minerals (ASX: GMD) – Shares in the gold miner rallied 5.3% after its December quarter report highlighted strong free cashflow on record production. The company produced 57,055 ounces for the quarter, up 58% compared to the previous quarter and generated $200.9 million in revenue. Genesis reaffirmed its FY25 guidance of 190,000–210,000 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of A$2,200–2,400 per ounce.
Gold miners posted broad-based gains after bullion prices ticked 0.70% higher overnight to US$2,695 an ounce. The rally was largely backed by the cooler-than-expected US CPI report and falling bond yields. Top mid-to-large cap gainers include Alkane Resources (+7.6%), Ramelius Resources (+3.8%), Emerald Resources (+3.0%), Newmont (+3.0%) and Catalyst Metals (+3.0%).
Real estate stocks rallied after the US CPI report sent bond yields sharply lower overnight, with US and Australian 10-year bond yields down 14 bps and 12 bps, respectively. Names like Goodman Group (+3.3%), Stockland (+3.1%), GPT Group (+2.0%), Mirvac Group (+2.7%) and Charter Hall (+2.5%) are leading the charge on Thursday.
Banks are bouncing strongly amid broader market strength and solid earnings from US peers. This upturn comes after the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index experienced a five-day skid, down 3.59%. Overnight, several heavyweight names like JPMorgan, Citi, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs reported December quarter earnings. While US and Australian banks operate fundamentally different business models, several aspects of these earnings reports provided encouraging signals for the broader banking industry, including:
All the banks beat key metrics including net interest income, net interest margins and net profit expectations
JPMorgan and Wells Fargo guided to better-than-expected net interest margins
Citi guided to slightly higher than expected revenue and authorised a US$20 billion buyback
Credit remained benign with provisions coming in lighter than expected across the board
Expense guidance was largely in-line with analyst expectations
Fintech stocks rallied after Sezzle (formerly ASX-listed and now on the Nasdaq) provided an upbeat FY24 guidance. The news bolstered several names like Zip (+7.7%), Tyro Payments (+3.6%) and Block (+3.2%). The key guidance takeaways include:
Total revenue to exceed prior guidance of 55% growth
Net income to exceed prior $71.5 million guidance
Adjusted net income per share to exceed prior guidance of $9.80 and $9.73 consensus
Exceptional holiday demand and the effective execution of our strategic initiatives fueled our Q4 outperformance, and gives us confidence that we will exceed our prior 2024 guidance
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