Viewpoint: Bullish
COH +7.72%: A good result here with 1H23 revenue of $892m, above the $850m expected while Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) of $142m was 8% ahead of consensus.
WES +1.33% : A solid result today from Wesfarmers with revenue up 27% Y/Y to $22.6bn which was above consensus of $20.5bn, driving a ~9% beat to earnings before tax (EBT) while they declared a 1H23 dividend of 88cps.
US stocks largely shrugged off another hot inflation number overnight with the CPI printing 6.4%, above analysts’ estimates of 6.2%. The Fed comments were mixed from a couple of officials but importantly swaps markets are now pricing in a 50% chance of a +0.25% rate hike in June, following jumps in both March & May, hence the US 2-year yield increased another 0.1% breaching 4.6% in the process posting fresh 3-month highs.
DXS +2.41%: A beat and bump today for the much-maligned office REIT, with 1H23 Funds From Operations (FFO) of $389m above consensus of $367m while they increased FY23 distribution guidance to be at the top end of the previously flagged range of 51-51.5c.
JHX -4.25%: Fell today following their quarterly update which was a touch soft, but more importantly, they downgraded FY23 guidance down from an underlying profit of $650-$710m to $600-$620m.
CSL +0.90%: edged higher today after reporting strong plasma collections and reiterated its full-year guidance for FY23 underlying net profit at about $2.7-$2.8 billion in constant currency terms, which was a touch ahead of current consensus.
US stocks rallied overnight and our preferred scenario is the 2023 advance has further to travel especially if we consider how well it handled a hawkish Fed and very strong US Employment data last week i.e. if a market can hold together on “bad news” it’s a strong market.
AD8 +10.04%: a record half for the audio-visual hardware and software company, further boosted by favourable FX. Revenue of $US20.6m and EBITDA at $US 4.3m were new highs for Audinate.
We like ALU but it’s starting to feel rich as it approaches $40 just when MM is looking to pare back our tech exposure i.e. we may trim our 5% position or simply take profit depending on alternatives at the time.
SUN +4.57%: Rallied today after posting a mixed 1H23 update. Cash NPAT was around 7% below consensus at the group level, however, General Insurance (GI) margin was solid .
