• Special dividend: Is now the time to buy NIB shares for income?

    Two lab workers fist pump each other.

    There are quite a few S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares that are reporting their latest earnings to investors this Monday. ASX health insurance stock NIB Holdings Ltd (ASX: NHF) is one of them. Unfortunately, investors did not like what they saw, with NIB shares currently down a nasty 10% to $6.66 each.

    However, this represents a compelling buying opportunity for income investors.

    Before we get into why, let’s go over what NIB had to say this morning.

    As my Fool colleague covered earlier today, it was an interesting earnings report to go through. NIB reported group revenues of $3.8 billion for its 2026 financial year, up 6.2% on what the company brought in over FY 2025. Group underlying profits were up 9.1% to $260.9 million, but statutory net profits after tax fell 5.9% to $186.9 million.

    It seems investors did not like what they saw, going off the steep drop in NIB shares that we are currently witnessing.

    But let’s talk about income. NIB has always been a decent dividend stock. The company has substantially increased its income in recent years, going from paying out an annual 14 cents per share in fully franked dividends in 2020 to 29 cents per share in 2025.

    2025’s payouts consisted of an April interim dividend of 13 cents per share and an October final dividend of 16 cents per share. Both payments came fully franked, as is NIB’s habit. The company’s first dividend of 2026 matched that of the 2025 interim dividend, with shareholders once again bagging 13 cents per share.

    NIB shares drop despite new special dividend

    Today, though, NIB threw some spice into the income soup. It declared a final dividend of 16 cents per share, once again matching 2025’s ordinary payout. But it also unveiled a special dividend alongside its ordinary payout. Yep, shareholders are set to enjoy a concurrent dividend worth another 5 cents per share. That will bring NIB’s dividend total for 2026 to 34 cents per share.

    Right now, NIB shares are trading on a trailing dividend yield of 4.36% (boosted mightily by today’s steep share price sell-off). However, we can now assign the stock a forward yield of 5.12%.

    So does that make NIB a buy for income? Well, investors shouldn’t take too much from this special dividend. It is entirely possible, even likely, that 2027’s total payouts don’t match what investors will receive in 2026. Special dividends by nature tend to be one-off events.

    Saying that, this company occupies a defensive sector of the ASX and has a strong history of delivering dividend increases. As such, I would be happy to include it in a diversified income-focused portfolio.

    The post Special dividend: Is now the time to buy NIB shares for income? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in NIB Holdings right now?

    Before you buy NIB Holdings shares, consider this:

    Motley Fool investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and NIB Holdings wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for over a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that may be better buys…

    * Returns as of 1 August 2026

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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 no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended NIB Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

  • Up 15% in 2026! Why Nvidia shares could be in for a huge week

    A tech worker wearing a mask holds a computer chip.

    Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) shares are heading into one of their biggest weeks of 2026.

    The Nvidia share price closed Friday at US$214.72, down 0.98% for the session. Despite the fall, the stock is still up around 15% since the beginning of the year and roughly 23% over the past 12 months.

    It is also trading about 9% below its 52-week high of US$236.54.

    Attention will now turn to the AI chip giant’s second-quarter results, due after the US market closes on Wednesday. This means Australian shareholders will get the numbers early Thursday morning.

    So, what should investors be watching?

    Wall Street is expecting another huge result

    Let’s cut to the chase. Expectations are already extremely high.

    According to Reuters, analysts are looking for quarterly revenue of around US$92 billion, nearly double what Nvidia reported a year earlier. Wall Street is also expecting adjusted earnings of around US$2.09 per share.

    Nvidia itself guided to second-quarter revenue of around US$91 billion when it released its first-quarter numbers in May.

    The company is coming off another huge quarter. Revenue jumped 85% year on year to a record US$81.6 billion, while Data Center revenue climbed 92% to US$75.2 billion.

    Keep in mind, those numbers leave Nvidia with a very high bar to clear this week. A strong result may not be enough if management’s outlook even slightly disappoints the market.

    AI server prices are heading higher

    There’s also something else to watch before the result.

    Reuters reported over the weekend that some of Nvidia’s largest customers have been told prices for servers containing its AI chips will rise by more than 15%.

    The increases are expected to apply to systems shipped early next year, including those using Nvidia’s Vera Rubin and Grace Blackwell chips. More expensive memory is behind the move, as key components used in AI servers have become considerably more costly.

    Passing some of that added expense on to customers could help Nvidia protect its margins. Thursday’s result should also give the market a better idea of whether buyers are starting to push back.

    Another big AI bet

    Furthermore, Nvidia has been busy away from its chip business.

    The Wall Street Journal reported that the company plans to invest US$1 billion in AI startup, Poolside, and pay US$6 billion to license its technology. Nvidia is also expected to bring across most of Poolside’s engineers.

    The deal would give Nvidia a bigger presence in open-weight AI models and put it more directly up against companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

    What should investors watch on Thursday?

    Revenue and earnings will attract plenty of attention, but the outlook is likely to have the biggest say in how Nvidia shares move.

    The market will also be listening for any comments on Blackwell demand, the progress of Vera Rubin, and whether gross margins can remain around the mid-70% range.

    With Nvidia already valued at US$5.2 trillion, there isn’t much room for disappointment.

    The post Up 15% in 2026! Why Nvidia shares could be in for a huge week appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now?

    Before you buy Nvidia shares, consider this:

    Motley Fool investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Nvidia wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for over a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that may be better buys…

    * Returns as of 1 August 2026

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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 positions in and has recommended Nvidia. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

  • Here’s the dividend forecast out to 2028 for Fortescue shares

    A group of three men in hard hats and high visibility vests stand together at a mine site while one points and the others look on with piles of dirt and mining equipment in the background.

    Owners of Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG) shares recently learned what their next dividend payment will be.

    It’s a sizeable one, though not as big as the payments earlier this decade.

    Investors will receive a FY26 final dividend of 46 cents per share – that’s a reduction of 23% compared to the final dividend of FY25.

    The full-year payout comes to $1.08 per share, which is 2% lower than the annual payment for FY25.

    Both FY25 and FY26 had a dividend payout ratio of 65%, so the ASX mining share was consistent with how much cash it paid to investors.

    Sadly for shareholders, it was partly a change in foreign exchange rates that led to the lower annual dividend. Underlying earnings per share (EPS) in Australian dollars declined 2%, but the underlying EPS grew 3% in American dollar terms. However, the dividend is based on and paid in Australian dollars.

    Let’s look at what the potential payment for owners of Fortescue shares could be in FY27 and FY28.

    FY27

    We’re already more than a month and a half into the 2027 financial year and the iron ore price has declined by a few dollars per tonne, which is a headwind for Fortescue’s earnings if that decline sticks around.

    During FY26, Fortescue saw the sold price of its iron ore increase by 7%, which was the biggest contributor to its underlying earnings increase in FY26 in American dollar terms.

    The current forecast on Commsec suggests that the company’s FY27 annual dividend per Fortescue share could decline to 86.4 cents. At the time of writing, that translates into a dividend yield of 4.8% excluding franking credits and 6.9% including franking credits.

    As you may have guessed, the dividend is projected to decline because the earnings are forecast to decrease. For now, that’s just a projection. The iron ore price could surprise the market positively, or it could decline towards US$90 per tonne as analysts have projected could happen amid rising iron ore shipments from Africa.

    If supply rises without a lift in demand, it is likely to hurt the commodity price. But analysts have been wrong before about being overly negative about the iron ore price.

    FY28

    The current forecast on Commsec suggests that the dividend could become even smaller in the 2028 financial year. The pressure on the iron ore price could become stronger as the months go by because Simandou – a huge, new iron ore project in Africa – is expected to ramp-up in the next few years.

    Interestingly, Fortescue is working on its own project in Africa (Gabon), though it’s not remotely the same scale.

    I think the best move that Fortescue can do to grow earnings in the long-term is to continue efforts to grow earnings in areas other than iron ore, such as copper and energy.

    The projection on Commsec suggests the company could pay an annual dividend per Fortescue share in FY28 of 59.8 cents. That suggests a dividend yield of 3.3% excluding franking credits and 4.75% including franking credits, at the time of writing.

    At this stage, it doesn’t seem that Fortescue is the right pick for large or growing income in the medium-term, so I’d look at other ASX shares.

    The post Here’s the dividend forecast out to 2028 for Fortescue shares appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

    Should you invest $1,000 in Fortescue right now?

    Before you buy Fortescue shares, consider this:

    Motley Fool investing expert Scott Phillips just revealed what he believes are the 5 best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Fortescue wasn’t one of them.

    The online investing service he’s run for over a decade, Motley Fool Share Advisor, has provided thousands of paying members with stock picks that have doubled, tripled or even more.*

    And right now, Scott thinks there are 5 stocks that may be better buys…

    * Returns as of 1 August 2026

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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 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.