It hasn’t been a great start to Thursday’s session for BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) shareholders.

The mining giant’s share price has fallen 2.34% to $60.62 in morning trade, wiping out Wednesday’s 1.39% gain.

The stock is now trading almost 12% below its August high of $68.77, with Thursday’s decline adding to a fairly difficult September.

The selling follows an incident at one of BHP’s major overseas operations, where activities have been suspended.

So, what just happened?

Fatal accident forces mine shutdown

According to Reuters, a worker was killed on Wednesday while carrying out maintenance work at BHP’s Escondida copper mine in Chile.

Escondida is the world’s largest copper mine, located in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

Union officials reported that the accident involved a front-end loader, a large vehicle used to move materials around mine sites.

Following the incident, BHP confirmed that all operational activities at Escondida had been suspended, although it hasn’t said when production might resume.

Under Chilean mining regulations, operations cannot restart following a fatal accident until safety inspectors have confirmed that conditions are safe.

A major blow to BHP’s copper business?

Escondida is one of BHP’s biggest assets, with the mining giant holding a 57.5% stake in the operation.

To put its size into perspective, the mine produced approximately 1.26 million tonnes of copper during FY26.

Copper has also become a huge part of BHP’s business, generating US$18.2 billion in underlying EBITDA, or 54% of the group’s total earnings last financial year.

Looking ahead, BHP is targeting production of between 1 million and 1.1 million tonnes at Escondida in FY27.

However, those forecasts were issued before yesterday’s incident, and the company has yet to indicate whether the shutdown will affect its production targets.

A strike could be next

The shutdown comes at a difficult time, with BHP also facing the possibility of a strike at Escondida.

The mine’s supervisors’ union, which represents around 1,020 workers, has urged members to reject the company’s latest pay offer.

Union members are scheduled to vote between 28 and 30 September, with union leaders urging workers to support strike action.

If the offer is rejected, a mandatory five-day government mediation process would follow before a legal strike could begin.

What happens next for BHP shares?

At $60.62, BHP shares are looking considerably more attractive than they did above $68 last month.

However, I wouldn’t be rushing to buy based on today’s decline alone.

I’d prefer to wait for an update from BHP before deciding whether the recent pullback presents a buying opportunity.

The post BHP shares fall as mining operations grind to a halt 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 recommended BHP Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

The Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB) share price could be in focus after the company secured US FDA approval for a new potency assay for its commercially approved Ryoncil (remestemcel-L-rknd). This milestone further strengthens quality controls for its flagship cell therapy product.

What did Mesoblast report?

• Received FDA approval for the T-cell Proliferation Inhibition BioAssay (TIBA), a new potency assay for Ryoncil.
• TIBA will be used alongside existing assays to ensure consistent product quality.
• Ryoncil remains the only FDA-approved MSC therapy for steroid-refractory acute graft versus host disease (SR-aGvHD) in children 2 months and older.
• The new assay supports ongoing manufacturing improvements and quality monitoring for commercial product lots.

What else do investors need to know?

Mesoblast’s updated testing process aims to improve the release and stability monitoring of each batch of Ryoncil. The TIBA assay offers added sensitivity to detect any changes in potency during manufacturing scale-up or when production shifts to new facilities.

Mesoblast continues to develop and expand its cell therapy portfolio, with Ryoncil being evaluated for additional diseases and rexlemestrocel-L in late-stage trials for heart failure and chronic lower back pain.

What’s next for Mesoblast?

The new assay’s FDA approval paves the way for smooth ongoing commercialisation of Ryoncil. Mesoblast remains focused on broadening Ryoncil’s use to other inflammatory conditions and advancing its other cell therapies.

Investors can look for updates as the company works toward new product indications, international partnerships, and continued investment in manufacturing and intellectual property.

Mesoblast share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Mesoblast shares have declined 8%, trailing the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which is flat over the same period.

View Original Announcement

The post Mesoblast wins FDA nod for new Ryoncil potency test appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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.

Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shares have come back a fair way from their highs.

The shares are trading around $73.79 on Thursday, compared with a 52-week high of $94.70.

Could they recover and make their way to $100 in 2027? Let’s run the numbers and find out.

Could Wesfarmers reach $100?

I think $100 is possible, but it looks unlikely to me over that timeframe.

From $73.79, Wesfarmers shares would need to rise around 36% to reach $100.

The business itself remains one I rate highly. Wesfarmers owns Bunnings, Kmart, Officeworks, and several other businesses, giving it multiple ways to grow earnings over time.

But the current forecasts suggest that growth will be fairly steady.

According to CommSec, consensus estimates point to earnings per share of $2.72 in FY27, rising to $2.90 in FY28 and $3.11 in FY29.

If Wesfarmers reached $100, the shares would be trading on a P/E ratio of around 34 times forecast FY28 earnings and 32 times FY29 earnings.

I think that would be a fairly demanding valuation, even for a business of Wesfarmers’ quality.

What has Wesfarmers traded at historically?

Wesfarmers has commanded a premium valuation for some time, so a high P/E ratio would not be unusual.

Its average annual P/E ratios over the past five years, according to CommSec, have ranged from around 22 times to 32 times earnings.

That helps put a $100 share price into perspective.

Wesfarmers could certainly trade above its historical averages for a period, particularly if investors become more optimistic about earnings growth.

But I would not want to base my expectations on the market pushing the valuation significantly higher while earnings are growing at a relatively measured pace.

Could Wesfarmers get back to $90?

I think $90 looks much more achievable.

That would require a gain of around 22% from today’s price and would still leave the shares below their 52-week high.

At $90, Wesfarmers would trade at around 31 times forecast FY28 earnings and 29 times FY29 earnings.

Those multiples are still high, but they sit much more comfortably within the range investors have been willing to pay for Wesfarmers shares in recent years.

If Bunnings and Kmart continue to perform well and group earnings keep rising, I could see the market becoming more positive on the shares again.

Dividends provide something along the way

Wesfarmers should also continue returning cash to shareholders while investors wait.

Consensus forecasts point to fully-franked dividends of $2.34 per share in FY27, $2.49 per share in FY28, and $2.71 per share in FY29.

At today’s price, the FY27 forecast represents a dividend yield of around 3.2%.

Foolish takeaway

I would not be counting on Wesfarmers shares reaching $100 in 2027.

The business is still one I would happily own, but $100 would require both a strong share price recovery and a valuation towards the expensive end of its recent history.

Around $90 looks more realistic to me. If Wesfarmers keeps growing earnings and its major businesses perform well, I think a return towards that level is quite achievable.

The post Could Wesfarmers shares reach $100 in 2027 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Grace Alvino has positions in Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Wesfarmers. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.