Key takeaways:

• Trading updates proved decisive this week for a number of companies including but not limited to Flight Centre, Ansell, and Northern Star Resources

While interest rate discussion might be on the table once again, a host of updates and the late-week Nasdaq sell-off are the real talking points for the ASX.

Which shares excelled?

Although no price sensitive news accompanied its rally this week, Genesis Minerals (ASX: GMD) was a star performer, including a near 8% rise on Thursday alone. The stock is trading within close proximity to its 52-week high thanks to double-digit percentage gains across the last month. 

Management recently acquired the Leonora gold assets from fellow goldie St Barbara (ASX: SBM), so it follows that investors may have taken some confidence from that development as gold prices looked to retest US$2,000 per ounce once again.

Elsewhere, minerals explorer Latin Resources (ASX: LRS) was another name that recorded a new high. While some technical action may have helped the stock break out to said highs, shareholders are also awaiting a drilling update. 

The company currently has three diamond drilling rigs undertaking an initial 4,000 metre drilling program at its Colina SW and Fog’s Block targets, with coarse grained spodumene previously encountered in drill cores. On the back of this week’s increase, the market cap for LRS topped $1 billion for the first time.

Flight Centre (ASX: FLT) was among the winners from recent trading sessions, thanks in no small part to a trading update. Based on preliminary data, the company advised the market that it expects to report underlying EBITDA of between $295 million to $305 million for FY23. 

That forecast represents an improvement on the company’s prior guidance of between $270 million to $290 million in EBITDA. Management anticipates that total transaction value (TTV) could be as much as 115% higher than FY22, with forecasts suggesting $22 billion TTV. The corporate segment could be a major winner for the business, with corporate TTV tipped to jump 20% to $11 billion versus the FY19 record of $8.9 billion.

Gains were also on offer from Credit Corp (ASX: CCP), Ampol (ASX: ALD), SG Fleet (ASX: SGF), and Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX: NEU), to name but a few stocks.

Which shares dragged on the market?

Shares in Vulcan Steel (ASX: VSL) fell sharply this week after the steel producer moved to cut its earnings guidance. In light of uncertain market conditions, the company advised the market that it now expects net profit after tax in the region of NZ$86 million to NZ$89 million, as opposed to prior guidance of between NZ$95 million to NZ$109 million. The news rattled investors’ confidence in the stock, particularly as management warned about the potential for “further weakness” ahead.

Medical and industrial gloves manufacturer Ansell (ASX: ANN) took a beating this week as the company’s post-COVID lull continued. A trading update by the healthcare stock fell well short of market expectations. Although strong growth in the second half has led the company to expect it will hit the mid-point of its most recent guidance range for FY23, it was the outlook that proved concerning for shareholders. 

Amid an expected slowdown as customers continue to work through high levels of inventory, management expects EPS to drop from 117-118 US cents this financial year to between 92 US cents and 112 US cents in FY24 on an adjusted basis. However, with the company also announcing a major investment program designed to improve productivity, statutory EPS is expected to be in the range of 57 US cents to 77 US cents.

Despite a robust second-quarter report, Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX: TLX) tumbled 15% on Thursday. The company reported a 21% increase in revenue to $120.7 million thanks to ongoing strength in sales for its lead product, Illuccix. That resulted in $10.8 million of positive cash flow for the quarter, up from $2.4 million in the first quarter. Meanwhile, receipts were 35% higher quarter-over-quarter, and gross margins came in at 64%. It appears that profit taking was responsible for the sell-down.

In the gold space, Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) came in for punishment after the company’s quarterly report offered a mixed set of results. While NST sold 426,000 ounces of gold during the quarter, at an all-in-sustaining cost of $1,700 per ounce, the company’s capital expenditure exceeded expectations. For FY23 the company reported $752 million of capex, owing to capital drilling, long-lead item procurement, and other works tied to mill expansion. What’s more, FY23 sales were at the low end of guidance at 1.563 million ounces of gold.

Elsewhere, battery metals names like Nickel Industries (ASX: NIC), Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA), Core Lithium (ASX: CXO), and IGO (ASX: IGO) were on the outer. The latter was impacted by news that it will impair assets that it acquired from Western Areas by up to $1 billion due to production challenges, delays, as well as higher capex and opex.

The rest of the week’s underperformers included heavyweight names such as Sandfire Resources (ASX: SFR), Alumina (ASX: AWC), and Aurizon (ASX: AZJ). Endeavour Group (ASX: EDV) also hit a stumbling block earlier in the week amid the Victorian government’s plans to change pokie machine laws in an effort to reduce gambling harm.

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