Planning well ahead of time is a great strategy for superannuation, and having a goal to work towards can make it even more rewarding.

Aiming for a $2,500 per week passive income stream from your superannuation savings would give a comfortable retirement – at least as measured by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, which estimates singles will need $55,923 per year to fund a comfortable retirement.

The amount you deem a comfortable retirement will depend on the sort of lifestyle you are after, but the ASFA standard, which assumes you own your own home, envisages the ability to pay for top-level health cover, to own and maintain a reasonable car, and to travel occasionally.

Superannuation by the numbers

So how much superannuation would you need to generate $2,500 per week, or $130,000 per year, in passive income?

For simplicity’s sake, I will assume that a retiree is living off of dividends and not drawing down any capital.

If this were the case, if it was possible to earn a 10% dividend yield – a lofty ambition – you would need $1.3 million in superannuation.

If you were earning 5%, that figure would double to $2.6 million.

I’d argue that, taking into account franking credits, a return of about 7.5% is a realistic proposition.

In this case, you’d need a superannuation balance of $1.73 million.

Stocks in focus

So, what sort of companies might pay dividends that would help hit the $2,500-per-week target?

Personally, I’m a fan of the funds in the Wilson Asset Management stable, including WAM Strategic Value Ltd (ASX: WAR), which pays a fully franked dividend yield of 5.6%, and WAM Active Ltd (ASX: WAA), which pays 6.98%.

Dividend-focused ETFs can be a good choice also, with Betashares Australian Dividend Harvester (ASX: HVST) paying 5.48% and the Global X S&P/ASX200 High Dividend ETF (ASX: ZYAU) paying 4.25%.

Universal Store Holdings Ltd (ASX: UNI) has also traditionally paid high dividends with a current yield of 4.97%, while among the miners Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) is paying 6.09%.

And among the banks, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) is paying 4.52% fully franked, while Bank of Queensland Ltd (ASX: BOQ) is paying 6.25% also fully franked.

How to boost your superannuation balance

If you’re a bit low on your superannuation at the moment, consider either salary sacrificing into your super, or making a concessional contribution.

This year, the concessional contributions cap has increased to $32,500, meaning you can contribute up to this amount and pay only 15% tax. However, keep in mind that the $32,500 level includes any contributions made by your employer and any salary sacrifice amounts.

The post How much is needed in superannuation for $2,500 in weekly passive income? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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

The NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) share price will be on watch on Friday after the company reported FY26 net revenue of $405 million, up 16%, and statutory NPAT swinging to a $82.1 million profit.

What did NEXTDC report?

• Total revenue rose 16% to $496.5 million
• Net revenue grew 16% to $405.0 million (above guidance)
• Underlying EBITDA lifted 15% to $248.8 million (above guidance)
• Statutory NPAT turned positive at $82.1 million, up from a $60.5 million loss
• Contracted utilisation surged 202% to 740.1MW
• Record capital expenditure of $3,397 million
• Pro forma liquidity increased 58% to $8.7 billion

What else do investors need to know?

NEXTDC delivered record contracted utilisation and Forward Order Book, with 565.1MW at year end — over three times billing utilisation. Development ran ahead of schedule, with 80MW of new capacity added in FY26 and progress continuing at key sites in Sydney, Melbourne, and Kuala Lumpur.

The company’s $3.4 billion capex for the year was $397 million above the top end of its guidance, reflecting land acquisitions and accelerated construction to meet customer delivery dates. Pro forma liquidity is now $8.7 billion after $9.75 billion in new capital was raised since August 2025, positioning NEXTDC to execute its extensive development pipeline.

NEXTDC’s data centre portfolio and Forward Order Book are unaffected by proposed state and national reforms in energy regulation. The company remains actively engaged in industry discussions and is well capitalised to manage any regulatory changes.

What did NEXTDC management say?

NEXTDC’s CEO, Craig Scroggie, commented:

FY26 was the largest contracting year in NEXTDC’s history. Contracted utilisation tripled to 740.1MW on a pro forma basis, and we exceeded guidance on both net revenue and Underlying EBITDA. Our Forward Order Book of 565MW is now more than 3.2 times our billing utilisation, and our focus is on delivering that capacity and converting it into revenue and cash inflow.

Since August 2025 we have also raised A$9.75 billion8 of new capital, taking pro forma liquidity from A$5.5 billion to A$8.7 billion and providing significant capital to deliver the contracted capacity and grow our development pipeline.

What’s next for NEXTDC?

For FY27, NEXTDC has guided for net revenue between $615 million and $640 million and underlying EBITDA of $385 million to $410 million, representing expected growth of over 50%. Capital expenditure is forecast at a record $5.25 to $5.75 billion, supporting the build-out of 197MW of contracted capacity converting to billing within the year.

Billing is expected to ramp up significantly, with a further 221MW scheduled to convert in FY28. NEXTDC’s national footprint, rapidly growing customer pipeline, and significant liquidity underpin its confidence in continued expansion across metro, edge, and international markets.

NEXTDC share price snapshot

The NextDC share price has underperformed the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO) over the past 12 months with a decline of almost 2%.

View Original Announcement

The post NEXTDC share price in focus after record FY26 earnings and strong outlook appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Nextdc. 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 S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) endured a particularly rough Thursday session today, erasing much of the gains that we saw earlier in the week. Investors began the day depressed and only got more pessimistic as trading wore on.

By the time the markets closed, the ASX 200 had dropped a nasty 0.98%. That leaves the index at 9,038.2 points.

This tough Thursday for Australian investors came after a milder night on the US markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) couldn’t hold water, falling 0.21%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) fared better, only losing 0.081% of its value.

But let us return to the local markets now for a closer look at how the different ASX sectors traversed this Thursday’s tough trading conditions.

Winners and losers

It was a bleak landscape out on the boards today, with only two sectors managing to escape intact.

Firstly, though, it was consumer discretionary stocks that copped the worst of it today. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) was slammed, crashing 3.18% lower.

Tech shares suffered too, with the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) plunging 2.38%.

Gold stocks didn’t hold their value either. The All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) tanked 1.54% this session.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) were in a similar boat, as you can tell by the S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ)’s 1.45% dive.

Consumer staples shares were no safe haven. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) cratered 1.43% today.

Nor were mining stocks, with the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) copping a 1.18% beating.

Communications shares had a day to forget, too. The S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) saw its value erode 1.06%.

Utilities stocks also suffered, evident by the S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ)’s 0.99% tumble.

Financial shares weren’t popular either. The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) slid 0.68% lower this Thursday.

Our last losers were energy shares, with the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) slipping down 0.19%.

Turning to the two green sectors now, the best place to hide out today was in healthcare stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index (ASX: XHJ) was spared, lifting a comfortable 0.23%.

Finally, our other winners were industrial shares, illustrated by the S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ)’s 0.03% bounce.

Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown

Our chart-topper this Thursday was healthcare stock Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX: RHC). Ramsay shares surged 13.72% higher this session to hit $50.06 by close. This came after the company reported its latest earnings this morning.

Here’s how the other top stocks landed their planes:

ASX-listed company	Share price	Price change
Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX: RHC)	$50.06	13.72%
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)	$20.30	7.98%
Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX: TAH)	$0.96	5.49%
Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN)	$9.66	4.77%
Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC)	$6.06	4.48%
Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: NEU)	$21.02	4.32%
DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)	$1.80	3.46%
Perpetual Ltd (ASX: PPT)	$20.23	3.32%
Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC)	$16.40	2.89%
Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR)	$10.12	2.22%

Our top 10 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary that shows which companies made big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.

The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Domino’s Pizza Enterprises and DroneShield. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Domino’s Pizza Enterprises. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.