Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) shares have climbed around another 0.2% to a three-year high of $38.60 on Tuesday morning.

At the time of writing, the shares are up a huge 31% year to date. They’re also around 23% higher than 12 months ago.

It’s been a bumpy ride for the ASX supermarket giant’s shares over the past 12 months, with its share price jumping anywhere between $25.51 and $38.55 a piece. 

While the volatility has continued throughout the first six months of 2026, the shares have been generally trending higher.

The latest dip came about after Woolworths posted its third-quarter sales update in late April. For the 13 weeks to the 5th of April, the supermarket major reported total sales of $18.1 billion, up 4.5% from Q3 in FY25. Its Australian Food sales were up 5.9% year on year to $13.8 billion. 

The company said that underlying trading momentum remained solid, but management noted they have seen “some signs of increased customer caution”.

Investors were spooked and quickly offloaded their shares.

But the stock was quickly considered oversold and undervalued, and investors started buying back in. Over the past five weeks alone, Woolworths shares have rebounded nearly 19%.

Why is everyone snapping up Woolworths shares again?

There hasn’t been any price-sensitive news out of Woolworths since its third-quarter sales result in late April, but the retail giant has hit headlines recently.

Two weeks ago, the AFR reported that Woolworths has outlined plans to offshore hundreds of corporate roles as part of a $400 million office cost reduction push. 

The corporate jobs include staff in financial, human resources, and IT. It comes as part of the company’s plan to simplify operations and reduce costs to maintain its competitive advantage.

A Woolworths spokesperson confirmed the outsourcing but declined to say how many workers would be affected. The corporate office employs almost 10,000 staff.

It looks like investors were pleased with the news. The Woolworths share price ended the day in the green and has climbed higher since.

The update comes on the back of the company’s better-than-expected first-half profit result, an upgraded outlook, and progress on its cost-savings plans.

The question now is, can confidence keep building further?

Are Woolworths shares a buy, sell, or hold now?

Analysts are divided about the outlook for Woolworths shares over the next 12 months.

Market Index data shows that the majority of brokers have a hold rating, but the $35.46 average target price implies a potential 8% downside at the time of writing.

TradingView data shows something very similar. The majority of analysts have a hold rating on the supermarket stock. The average $35.02 target price also implies a 9% downside at the time of writing. Even the maximum $39 target price only implies a minor 1% upside after the latest price rally.

The post Woolworths shares soar to new multi-year high: Buy, sell or hold? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• One ASX dividend and one ASX growth stock to buy now
• How to build an ASX share portfolio that can survive a market selloff
• Woolworths shares vs Coles: Buy, hold, or sell these ASX giants?
• Why has the ASX 200 given up its early rebound today?
• Buy, hold, sell: Coles, Telstra, Wesfarmers, and Woolworths shares

Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gold stock Catalyst Metals Ltd (ASX: CYL) is marching higher today.

Catalyst Metals shares closed yesterday trading for $6.10. In early morning trade on Tuesday, shares are changing hands for $6.32 apiece, up 3.6%.

For some context, the ASX 200 is up 0.1% at this same time.

Among the tailwinds helping lift the miner today is the overnight uptick in the gold price. Currently trading for US$4,191 per ounce, the gold price is up 1.2% since this time yesterday (according to data from Bloomberg).

Here’s what else is grabbing investor interest.

ASX 200 gold stock gains on resource boost

Catalyst Metals shares are marching higher after the miner released an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its Trident underground gold deposit, located in Western Australia.

The ASX 200 gold stock is currently developing the Trident mine, where it recently completed an open pit to enable development of an underground portal.

Catalyst’s Trident underground will be the fourth mine to be developed on the Plutonic Belt. The other three are Plutonic East, Trident open pit, and K2.

When Catalyst acquired Trident in 2023 to complete a consolidation of the Plutonic Gold Belt, the project had a resource of 524,000 ounces at 3.6 grams of gold per tonne.

The miner noted that the resource now stands at 1.1 million ounces at 5.4g/t Au.

Promisingly, Catalyst said that the more tightly drilled indicated resources have increased by 20% from prior estimates to 633,000 ounces at 6.3g/t Au. The company expects this will underpin a roughly 10-year mine plan at an average run-rate of some 60,000 ounces per year.

The ASX 200 gold stock highlighted that Trident remains the second-largest deposit on the Plutonic Belt. The project is expected to form a second, higher grade base load ore source for the central Plutonic processing plant.

That’s all part of Catalyst’s plan to increase its annual gold production from 100,000 ounces to 200,000 ounces.

What did Catalyst Metals management say?

Commenting on the updated MRE that is helping lift the ASX 200 gold stock in early trade today, Catalyst Metals managing director & CEO James Champion de Crespigny said, “Our exploration team continues to have success across the belt, meaningfully growing Trident, Plutonic Main, Cinnamon, K2 and Old Highway. “

Champion de Crespigny added:

This 145% increase in Trident’s indicated resources, and achievement of this 1-million-ounce milestone, is a testament to their persistence.

A key focus now is on developing the Trident orebody. With the open pit completed, the successful development of the underground, and path to around 200,000 ounces, is becoming ever more likely.

Catalyst expects the first stoping ore from the underground mine in the first half of calendar year 2027.

The post Guess which ASX 200 gold stock is jumping today on a 20% resource boost appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• 7 ASX gold stocks to buy now
• 2 ASX growth shares experts think could double over 12 months
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Bernd Struben has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Iluka Resources Ltd (ASX: ILU) shares were trading higher after the company announced a major funding development as well as a new deal to supply rare earths to a global automotive company.

Project funding secured

The company said in a statement to the ASX that Export Finance Australia (EFA) had confirmed that Iluka would have full access to a $1.65 billion non-recourse loan to build its Eneabba rare earths refinery in Western Australia.

Iluka also said that Civmec Ltd (ASX: CVL) had been awarded the contract for the structural, mechanical, piping, electrical, and instrumentation works to complete the refinery’s construction.

The company said regarding the financing:

Iluka anticipates Tranche 1 of this funding, comprising $1.25 billion, will be fully drawn at the end of 2026, at which point the refinery is expected to be 75% complete. EFA has confirmed availability of the remaining $400m to complete Eneabba’s construction. Commissioning of the refinery is scheduled for mid 2027.

Regarding the offtake agreement, Iluka said it had struck a multi-year agreement to supply magnet rare earth oxides (neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium) to the global automotive company.

Iluka said further:

The offtake agreement is take-or-pay; commences in 2028 for an initial term of four years; and represents approximately 10% of Iluka’s planned production over that period, being 1,200t of magnet rare earth oxides (Nd, Pr, Dy and Tb). Offtake volumes are in line with the commissioning (2027) and ramp up timeline for the Eneabba refinery. The agreement sets pricing at the higher of minimum and market-linked prices for each product to balance the dual risks of downside price volatility and security of supply. Iluka’s minimum revenue over the contract period is US$155 million.3 Assuming industry forecast pricing, Iluka’s revenue over the contract period would be US$172 million.

Iluka said the identity of the automotive company was commercial in confidence.

Managing Director Tom O’Leary said the offtake agreement was a particularly important milestone for the company’s rare earths business.

He added:

Our first rare earths customer is a globally recognised automotive company and I am delighted that Iluka has been entrusted to deliver refined critical minerals as part of its supply chain. We look forward to a collaborative and successful partnership. Beyond being Iluka’s first, the agreement is significant in that it encompasses the full suite of light and heavy magnet rare earth oxides and contains minimum prices agreed between commercial parties that are independent of those backed by governments.

Mr O’Leary said the deal “demonstrates increasing recognition of Iluka’s position as a credible, vertically integrated supplier, with diverse feedstock sources spanning internal operations and third-parties. Discussions with other prospective customers are ongoing”.

Shares trading higher

Iluka shares were 2.2% higher at $8.31 in early trade. Civmec shares were steady at $1.98.

The post Which rare earths miner has locked in a $1.65 billion funding deal? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Iluka Resources signs multi-year rare earths supply deal
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Cameron England has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.