Key takeaways:

• Quarterly updates delivered gains for Megaport, Beach Energy, and Sandfire Resources

Thanks to soft inflation data, and the Dow Jones rising for a 14th straight session, its best winning streak since 1987, the ASX hit a five-month high.

Which shares excelled?

Property duo Domain Holdings Australia (ASX: DHG) and REA Group (ASX: REA) were among the week’s standout names, with both stocks benefitting on the back of encouraging inflation data. In the case of REA, shares in the company hit a fresh 52-week high. 

The broader property market has seen a revival of late as dwelling values rise, and softer-than-expected inflation figures suggest the Reserve Bank of Australia may have more wiggle room to keep rates on hold. That could be a further positive for dwelling values, and in turn, listing operators like DHG and REA. 

Shares in Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX: TLX) recovered from a brutal and rather unexpected sell-off last week. The company’s second-quarter report fell flat with shareholders, despite the company reporting a 21% increase in revenue to $120.7 million, $10.8 million of positive cash flow for the quarter, and a 35% improvement in receipts. A week on, it appears as though some investors used the sell-off as an opportunity to buy the dip.

Copper producer Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR) saw its shares gain 9% during Thursday’s trading session. Shareholders were impressed with the company’s fourth-quarter report, with quarterly production up 13% at its MATSA copper project in Spain. That helped the company deliver annual production of 99kt, beating prior guidance. A pleasing sign for investors was the miner’s FY24 outlook, with management guiding for 135kt of production this financial year.

Another stock flying higher after its quarterly production report was Beach Energy (ASX: BPT). The company’s fourth-quarter update included a 12% quarter-over-quarter increase in production to 5MMboe, and quarterly revenue of $450 million, up 27%. Across the financial year, BPT’s production totalled 19.5MMboe, with corresponding revenue of $1.62 billion.

Megaport (ASX: MP1) shares soared nearly 15% on Thursday after the company reported a positive cash flow quarter for the first time in its history. Furthermore, the company announced normalised EBITDA of $11.8 million for the quarter, resulting in total normalised EBITDA of $20.2 million for FY23. The other highlight for the business was a 6% quarterly improvement in annual recurring revenue (ARR) to $178.6 million, equivalent to 39% growth year-over-year.

Elsewhere, there were strong performances from Tuas (ASX: TUA), SG Fleet Group (ASX: SGF), Nick Scali (ASX: NCK), Seek (ASX: SEK), and WiseTech Global (ASX: WTC), which touched a record high.

Which shares dragged on the market?

High-profile explorer Core Lithium (ASX: CXO) tumbled this week after the company’s forward-looking guidance disappointed onlookers. Although the ramp-up of its Finniss lithium project delivered 14,685 tonnes of spodumene during the most recent quarter, adverse weather conditions weighed on that result. Unit costs were also higher as operations gathered momentum.

In FY24 CXO management expects spodumene production of 80,000 to 90,000 tonnes, falling short of study estimates on account of lower mining rates and recoveries. The company then expects FY25 production levels to go backwards due to an expected gap in ore supply, which clearly unnerved investors.

The weak guidance provided by Core Lithium flowed onto other names in the lithium space, including none other than Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA). Shares in SYA touched a yearly low to sit well below the company’s recent capital raise price, which saw the explorer secure $200 million in fresh funding at $0.18 per share.

Australian regenerative medicine company Mesoblast (ASX: MSB) saw its shares sink by over 7% on Monday. Although there was no price-sensitive news that sparked the sell-off, the company is expecting a decision from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) next week regarding its remestemcel-L therapy. It is possible that investors may be taking some of their capital off the table ahead of the key decision, and in light of double-digit percentage gains over the last eight weeks.

Shipbuilder Austal (ASX: ASB) unveiled a shock downgrade after exiting a trading halt this week. Having previously guided the market to expected earnings of approximately $58 million, the company is now anticipating a break-even result, or potentially a full-year loss of $10 million. The result is attributable to inaccurate assumptions, specification changes, and inflationary costs associated with its inaugural T-ATS contract with the US Navy.

Also trading lower over recent sessions were companies such as Regis Resources (ASX: RRL), Latin Resources (ASX: LRS), and Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX: NEU).

We’ll be back next week with another Weekly ASX Trading Wrap Up – until then, have a great week!