Premier Investments Ltd (ASX: PMV) shares were up more than 3% in early trade despite the company’s net profit falling more than 10%.

Challenging trading conditions

The retailer, which reported its full-year results on Thursday, declared a final dividend of 36 cents per share, fully franked, which maintains its dividend yield at more than 7%, albeit on a share price that is down more than 40% over the year.

Revenue from ordinary activities came in at $808 million for the year to July 25, down 2.8%, while net profit was $129.2 million, down 10.3%.

Premier Chair Solomon Lew said the company continued to progress its growth plans for Peter Alexander and Smiggle during the year, “with significant progress made across a number of key initiatives”.

Mr Lew added:

Peter Alexander delivered another record sales performance in FY26 and successfully launched its Peter’s Dreamers loyalty program, attracting more than 1.4 million members within its first 10 months of operation. At Smiggle, the key relaunch initiatives announced in March 2026 have been delivered, with the brand entering 1H27 with a refreshed product range and renewed customer proposition ahead of the critical peak trading period.

Mr Lew said discretionary retail conditions in the second half of the year were very challenging, in particular in the later months.

He added:

Despite this backdrop, we remained focused on executing our growth strategies and positioning both brands for the critical Black Friday, Christmas and Back-to-School trading period ahead. The actions taken over the past six months leave both brands better placed as they enter 1H27. Premier’s diversified portfolio, including the continued strength of our investment in Breville and a strong balance sheet, provides the flexibility to invest in our brands, pursue new opportunities and continue our capital management initiatives, including the on-market share buy-back.  

During the year, Premier opened four new Peter Alexander stores and another five were either expanded or relocated.

The company said at least five new store openings and one relocation or expansion were confirmed for the first half of 2027, including the opening of a large flagship store in the Sydney CBD in October 2026.

Premier said the first seven weeks of the new year continued to be challenging; however, sales were within 1% of the previous period on a like-for-like basis.

Premier Investments shares look fully priced

RBC Capital Markets said the result was neutral for the company.

They said both Smiggle and Peter Alexander sales came in within their forecasts.

They added:

The early 1H27 trading commentary suggests to us that the Retail segment as a whole is tracking largely in line to marginally ahead of consensus, with a clean inventory position to start FY27.

RBC has a price target on Premier of $12 against $11.42 currently, up 2.3% on the day. Premier is valued at $1.78 billion.

The post Why are Premier Investments shares trading higher today? 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 Premier Investments. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

To get some idea of the massive potential unleashed by the artificial intelligence revolution, you need look no further than ASX AI stock DXN Ltd (ASX: DXN).

If you’re not familiar with DXN, the company manufactures and operates modular data centres.

And business is booming. Here’s what I mean.

Tipping $5,000 into ASX AI stock DXN in March

Back in March, I hadn’t yet heard of DXN. But I wish I had.

You see, on 24 March, DXN shares closed the day trading for 2 cents apiece.

So, for $5,000, I could have bought 250,000 shares in the ASX AI stock. I would then have watched the share price drop to 1.5 cents by market close on 13 April, cutting my initial $5,000 investment to just $3,500.

But if I’d held tight through those early losses, I would then have watched the stock go on an epic tear.

Indeed, in morning trade today, DXN shares are up another 4.6%, currently changing hands for 45.5 cents apiece.

Which means the 250,000 shares I bought six months ago for just $5,000 would be worth $113,750 today. Or a gain of 2,175%.

Boom!

What’s been sending DXN shares to the moon?

Investors have been bidding up the ASX AI stock as DXN kicks off FY 2027 with growing demand for its modular models across AI infrastructure markets.

“FY26 will be remembered as the year DXN’s long-term investment thesis came into focus,” DXN managing director Shalini Lagrutta said following the release of the company’s full-year results on 31 August.

Lagrutta added:

While revenue for the year was impacted by customer-side project deferrals, our maiden AI HPC contract validated years of investment behind our AI-ready modular platform and drove a five-fold increase in the company’s market capitalisation.

We enter FY27 with our strongest-ever backlog currently sitting at $40.9 million as of 30 August 2026 and a rapidly maturing pipeline of identified projects, of which approximately 21% are AI infrastructure related.

Is the ASX AI stock still a good buy today?

Despite its 20-bagger status, Wilson Asset Management – which is a major shareholder in the ASX AI stock – is still adding to its position.

According to Wilson Asset Management portfolio manager Shaun Weick (quoted by the Australian Financial Review):

We think DXN has the potential to be a multi-bagger from here and is one of the best micro-cap opportunities on the ASX…

They have engineered a modular solution, which critically accelerates the rollout of AI factory capacity. They have been awarded multiple initial contracts which, if delivered successfully in coming months, unlocks gigawatt-scale projects which is a multi-billion-dollar revenue opportunity.

The post If I’d invested $5,000 in this ASX AI stock 6 months ago, I’d have $113,750 today! 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 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.