The Tourism Holdings Ltd (ASX: THL) share price is front of mind for investors after the company reported a 34% jump in underlying NPAT to $46.1 million and lifted its full-year dividend by 62% to 10.5 cents per share for FY26.

What did Tourism Holdings report?

• Statutory NPAT from continuing operations of $39.9 million (FY25: loss of $14.1 million)
• Underlying NPAT up 34% to $46.1 million
• Sale of services revenue (rentals) up 11% to $517.5 million; total revenue $852.9 million (down 5%)
• Full-year dividend of 10.5 cents per share, up 62%
• Net operating cashflows up 67% to $67.3 million
• Net debt reduced to $436 million; leverage improved, equity ratio at 41%

What else do investors need to know?

Tourism Holdings delivered on its four key strategic priorities, including the sale of its UK & Ireland business and exiting two loss-making Australian dealerships, which helped further strengthen its balance sheet. The company also consolidated manufacturing in Australasia and unlocked about $5 million in labour, corporate, and digital savings.

Shareholders will want to note two current takeover proposals: a $3.10 per share bid from BGH consortium and a competing offer between $3.30 and $3.40 per share from a credible strategic acquirer. Both proposals remain non-binding and subject to due diligence over the next six weeks.

What did Tourism Holdings management say?

CEO Grant Webster said:

Rentals remain the engine of thl. Sale of services revenue increased 11% to $517.5 million, the average rental fleet grew 11.5% and RevPARV increased 1% to $58,000.

We entered the second half of FY26 with real momentum. The Middle East conflict in March disrupted international travel with the flow on impacts on fuel pricing impacting domestic tourism for a time. Southern Hemisphere booking intake has since recovered to be ahead of the prior year, with New Zealand intake over the last four weeks up around 40%, Canada is on track for record rental revenue this summer season, and recent U.S. intake is tracking around 45% ahead. That tells us a portion of demand was deferred rather than lost.

Operationally this was a year of delivering hard actions. We consolidated Australasian manufacturing into Hamilton and launched a redesigned Winnebago range, opened a new Queenstown site on 17 August, exited two loss-making Australian dealerships and delivered approximately $5 million of underlying labour, corporate and digital cost savings.

What’s next for Tourism Holdings?

Tourism Holdings says the fundamentals remain supportive of its $100 million underlying NPAT goal, even though the delay in RV sales market recovery and international disruptions have tempered near-term expectations. Recent booking trends are positive, with New Zealand and Australia up around 40% and 15% respectively over four weeks, and Canada and the US seeing record or strong rental demand.

While uncertainty from the Middle East conflict has impacted FY27 momentum, management continues to focus on fleet growth, manufacturing efficiencies, and further cost initiatives, believing the longer-term potential is intact for shareholders.

Tourism Holdings share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Tourism Holdings shares have risen 17%, outperforming the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO), which has risen 1% over the same period.

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Motley Fool contributor Laura Stewart 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. This article was prepared with the assistance of Large Language Model (LLM) tools for the initial summary of the company announcement. Any content assisted by AI is subject to our robust human-in-the-loop quality control framework, involving thorough review, substantial editing, and fact-checking by our experienced writers and editors holding appropriate credentials. The Motley Fool Australia stands behind the work of our editorial team and takes ultimate responsibility for the content published by The Motley Fool Australia.

The ASX dividend stock Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI) has delivered reliable dividends to shareholders this decade. I think it could be a top investment for passive income in the coming years and it’s enacting business plans to deliver it.

Universal Store owns a portfolio of premium youth fashion brands across retail and wholesale businesses. Its core businesses are Universal Store and Perfect Stranger. It also has CTC (which operates the THRILLS and Worship brands). The company has more than 120 stores across Australia.

Compelling dividend record

The business started paying a dividend in FY21 and it has increased its payout every year since then, including in FY26.

In the recent 2026 financial year report, the Universal Store board of directors hiked its annual dividend per share by 11.7% to 43 cents. At the time of writing, Universal Store now has a dividend yield of 5.2% excluding franking credits and 7.4% including franking credits.

But, it’s more than just the dividend that makes this business attractive.

Strong business growth

In FY26, overall sales grew 12.9% to $376.1 million, with Universal Store sales growing 11.5% (amid 8.1% like-for-like (LFL) sales growth). Perfect Stranger sales soared 40.8% to $35.9 million, with 13% LFL sales growth.

Operating leverage was clear in the FY26 result. The company achieved a 140 basis point increase in the gross profit margin to 62.5%, operating profit (EBIT) climbed 17.2% to $64 million, and underlying net profit grew 16.3% to $40.5 million.

Dividend growth is not guaranteed, of course, but Universal Store has delivered regular dividend growth, including during the high-inflation period three years ago and in FY26 amid the Middle East fallout.

The outlook looks good for further dividend growth because of the company’s plans and the strong start to trading in FY27.

Management intends to open between 16 and 20 stores across the group in FY27, with nine to ten new Universal Stores, between six and eight Perfect Stranger stores and one or two new THRILLS stores.

It also plans to reopen a temporarily closed store, refurbish four or five stores and relocate three stores. The company said it continues to be prudent in ensuring the long-term profitability of new stores and lease renewals.

FY27 has started strongly with 9.1% overall direct-to-consumer sales growth.

Universal Store sales are up 5.5% (with 2.9% LFL sales growth), Perfect Stranger sales are up 45.8% (with 17.6% LFL sales growth) and CTC direct-to-consumer sales are up 10.1% (with 3.8% LFL sales growth).

Time will tell whether the business can continue this strong level of sales growth over the rest of FY27 amid the challenging retail conditions.

$1,000 investment in the ASX dividend stock

At the time of writing, if an investor invested $1,000 into Universal Store shares, they’d be able to buy 120 shares with a little bit of money left.

Based on the FY26 payout – but I expect growth in FY27 – an investor would receive $51.60 of cash and approximately $22.11 of franking credits.

It’s not as cheap as it was earlier this year, but this ASX dividend stock continues to impress me, and I’d happily buy some shares today.

The post $1,000 buys 120 shares in an incredibly reliable ASX dividend stock appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison 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 recommended Universal Store. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

If I told you there was a simple ASX exchange-traded fund (ETF) out there, one that charges a paltry fee and has returned 15% per annum for the past decade, would you rush out to buy it without a second thought? I wouldn’t blame anyone who was tempted.

That’s exactly what the iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) seems to be offering investors right now.

This ETF and index fund is indeed a simple one. It holds the largest 500 companies listed on the American markets, weighted by market capitalisation. In this way, it can be thought of as an American equivalent to the uber-popular Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS).

Buying the world’s best stocks with this ASX ETF

But instead of investing in the likes of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS), IVV is far more impressive in terms of scope and scale. The ASX is home to some fine companies. But very few are heavyweights beyond our shores. Not so with IVV. This ASX ETF literally contains dozens, if not hundreds, of companies that sell goods and services right around the world.

These companies include many names you might be familiar with. General Motors, Coca-Cola, Deere & Co, PepsiCo, Walmart, Procter & Gamble, Netflix, Colgate-Palmolive, IBM, Mastercard, Texas Instruments, Costco… the list goes on. And we haven’t even got to this ASX ETE’s heavyweights. Like most US-based index funds, the iShares S&P 500 ETF is dominated by tech stocks. Its top holdings are also the most powerful companies in the world right now. They include NVIDIA, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Tesla.

It’s these companies that investors largely have to thank for IVV’s incredible performance over the past decade. As we mentioned earlier, this ASXE TF has delivered a 15% return every year for the past ten years. Specifically, it is 15.72% per annum over the ten years to 31 July 2026.

That’s real wealth-building stuff. Helped in no small part by IVV’s minuscule management fee of 0.04% per annum. That’s $4 a year for every $10,000 invested.

So is IVV a no-brainer buy?

Given that the US is home to the vast majority of the world’s best companies, I think it is prudent for most ASX investors to have some exposure to US stocks in their portfolios. They are just a cut above what the ASX has to offer, at least in my view. IVV is a great way to get that US exposure. It is a simple, cheap ETF that provides a lot of diversification. What more could one want?

Saying that, I do think investors need to temper their expectations, though. I would be shocked if the iShares S&P 500 ETF kept returning 15% per annum over the coming ten years. Many of its holdings have reached critical mass, and, at multi-trillion-dollar valuations, will find it difficult to keep growing at the rates they have enjoyed in the past.

Saying that, there is plenty of innovation still happening within IVV’s portfolio. Either way, I think this ASX ETF is indeed a no-brainer buy for any ASX investor with a long time horizon.

The post 15% for 10 years: Is this ASX ETF a no-brainer buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Coca-Cola, Costco Wholesale, Mastercard, Microsoft, Netflix, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Colgate-Palmolive, Costco Wholesale, Deere & Company , International Business Machines, Mastercard, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, Tesla, Texas Instruments, Walmart, and iShares S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended General Motors. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Telstra Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Mastercard, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, and iShares S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.