Talga Group Ltd (ASX: TLG) shares are having one of their best sessions in months on Friday.

At the time of writing, the ASX battery materials stock is up 28.57% to an intraday high of 27 cents. 

The rally comes after a tough run for shareholders. Talga shares are still down 28% in 2026 and 36% over the past 12 months. 

But investors finally have something to cheer about. 

After years of work on its battery anode plans, Talga has given investors a sign that commercial progress is finally starting to show. 

Here’s what the company announced. 

First commercial deliveries begin

According to the release, Talga has started commercial deliveries of its flagship battery graphite anode product, Talnode-C, to Nyobolt. 

Nyobolt is a battery technology company focused on ultra-fast charging batteries, which are being developed for areas such as heavy-duty vehicles, mining equipment, and industrial robotics. 

The first shipment was delivered from Talga’s EVA demonstration plant in Lulea, Sweden, under the binding 3,000-tonne offtake agreement announced in May last year. 

While the early volumes aren’t huge, the update is still significant for the company. It means Talga has moved from testing and customer qualification work to commercial sales under a binding offtake agreement. 

The balance of the 3,000-tonne offtake is expected to come from Talga’s planned commercial-scale anode plant in the same area. Construction is targeted to start in 2027, although this still depends on a final investment decision.

A closer look at Nyobolt

Nyobolt is working on batteries that can charge very quickly and handle heavy use. 

Talga said the company recently completed a Series C capital raise at a US$1 billion valuation. So, clearly there’s some serious money behind what it is trying to build. 

Nyobolt advised that it has already demonstrated charging from 10% to 80% in under 5 minutes.

With that kind of speed, the batteries could be valuable in markets where downtime can cost operators money.

And that is why Nyobolt is targeting heavy-duty commercial vehicles, trucks, mining equipment, and autonomous warehouse robots.

These are all areas where battery performance, charging speed, and reliability need to hold up.

Talga also pointed to demand beyond passenger electric vehicles. This includes potential uses in industrial drones, hybrid heavy-duty vehicles, defence hardware, AI data centre power solutions, and backup power systems.

Foolish Takeaway

This update should give Talga shares more support after a brutal start to the year.

Talga has talked up its battery anode opportunity for years, making these first commercial sales a welcome milestone for investors. 

Furthermore, management said it is in advanced talks with offtake parties and new customers are nearing final qualification and onboarding.

If more deals follow, the share price could keep powering higher.

 

The post Guess which ASX stock is rocketing almost 30% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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.

Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares are sliding today.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) energy stock closed yesterday trading for $28.03. In late morning trade on Friday, shares are swapping hands for $27.69 apiece, down 1.2%. 

For some context, the ASX 200 is up 1.3% at this same time. 

Some of today’s underperformance looks to be driven by another dip in global oil prices.

Currently trading for US$71.60 per barrel, the Brent crude oil price is down 0.3% overnight, which now sees the oil price down more than 25% over the past month.

Investors may also be tuning into the latest board shakeup announced by the oil and gas giant this morning.

What’s happening with Woodside shares?

Before market open today, Woodside announced that Tony O’Neill has resigned as a non-executive director, effective as of the first of this month, just two years after joining the board. 

Since June 2024, O’Neill served on Woodside’s Audit & Risk, Sustainability, Nominations & Governance committees.

Commenting on the abrupt departure that could be dragging on Woodside shares today, chairman Richard Goyder said: 

Tony’s wise counsel and strategic guidance on sustainability, decarbonisation and operational performance have been highly valued during what has been a transformative period for Woodside. We appreciate Tony’s leadership and commitment to delivering value for our shareholders and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

What are the experts saying?

According to various media speculations, O’Neill’s resignation appears to be linked to historic United Kingdom-based business dealings at Odin that he had with Mark Cutifani. Cutifani joined the Woodside board earlier this year. Their business relationship had, reportedly, not been clarified to other board directors. 

As The Australian Financial Review reported, a Woodside spokeswoman said O’Neill resigned “to allow the company and board to focus on delivery and remove ongoing distraction”. 

As for the potential impact on Woodside shares, MST Marquee energy analyst Saul Kavonic noted that O’Neill’s resignation “may now be too little, too late to fully alleviate investor concerns on governance”.

According to Kavonic (quoted by the AFR):

Governance concerns will persist for as long as the chairman succession process isn’t seen to be beyond reproach.

That Woodside’s board persist with the assertion that this is about dealing with a distraction rather than facing up to a substantive governance issue is a further sign that change of leadership of the Woodside board is overdue, and shouldn’t be passed to another director who was involved in this debacle.

Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility lead analyst Alex Hillman added:

We raised concerns at the recent AGM about the appointment of Mark Cutifani as a director, in circumstances where Tony O’Neill and Mark Cutifani have had overlapping business interests.

The resignation of Tony O’Neill does, however, create an opportunity for Woodside to appoint the type of director that the company needs.

With today’s intraday dip factored in, Woodside shares remain up 17.2% in 2026.

The post Woodside shares slide amid big leadership news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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.

It has been a rough year for Catalyst Metals Ltd (ASX: CYL), but investors are getting something to cheer about on Friday.  

At the time of writing, the ASX gold stock is up 12.33% to $5.74.

That gives Catalyst shares some relief after a weaker year so far. Catalyst shares are still down around 22% in 2026, although they remain up about 7% since this time last year. 

Here’s what the company announced.

A record year at Plutonic

According to the release, Catalyst produced 31,812 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter from its Plutonic Gold Belt in Western Australia. 

That helped lift annual gold production to 104,000 ounces, which was in line with the company’s FY26 guidance range of 100,000 ounces to 110,000 ounces.

Catalyst said this was both a record quarterly and annual gold production result for the Plutonic Gold Belt under its ownership.

It was also the highest quarterly and annual production from Plutonic since 2013, when the asset was owned by Barrick.

Production came from four mines across the Plutonic Gold Belt, including Plutonic Main, Plutonic East, the Trident open pit, and K2.

Management said the result reflected a year of consistent operating performance across the asset. It noted that Catalyst has now lifted production from around 15,000 ounces a quarter to more than 30,000 ounces a quarter since taking control of Plutonic. 

Balance sheet improves

Catalyst’s cash position also moved in the right direction.

The company ended June with cash and bullion of $323 million. That was up $46 million since 31 March and up $85 million over the six months to 30 June. 

That increase came after exploration, capital, and corporate spending.

Catalyst also said it is debt-free. On top of that, its undrawn $100 million debt facility gives it total liquidity of $423 million.

Can the rebound continue?

This update should give Catalyst shares more support after a weak start to 2026.

The company delivered a stellar result, but most importantly, grew its cash and bullion balance, and remains debt-free. 

Catalyst said detailed operating figures and costs will be provided in its upcoming June quarterly report. That will give investors a better look at margins, costs, and how much of this stronger production result is flowing through to the bottom line. 

The K2 mine is also worth watching, with commercial production appearing to be on track despite some early grade reconciliation and cost pressures.

 

The post This ASX gold stock is jumping 12% after a record year appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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.