Shares in Playside Studios Ltd (ASX: PLY) are down more than 40% over the past year, but if the team at Shaw and Partners are to be believed, they could more than double in the coming 12 months.

Strong results posted on the back of new game

Playside last week released its FY26 results, with revenue of $54.9 million coming in higher than guidance of $50-$53 million and 13% up on the previous year.

The company’s EBITDA came in at $15.5 million and net profit was $5.4 million.

A major development for the company during FY26 was the release of its game, Mouse: P.I. For Hire.

Playside Chief Executive Officer Benn Skender said:

There was clear demand for the title well before launch, and the team converted it with a polished, exceptionally well-reviewed game that has translated directly into strong sales and a franchise we can build on. That is a hard thing to get right in this industry, and it validates both the publishing model we have been building and the studios we choose to back. External Projects has been tougher this year and we have aligned our cost base accordingly. At the same time we have expanded our Business Development team and global presence because we view current conditions as cyclical rather than structural, and we intend to be well positioned as demand recovers. The award of several small projects in recent weeks has been a positive in this regard.

In the current year the company will be releasing Games of Thrones: War for Westeros, and Dumb Ways to Build, the latter of which will be released in coming weeks.

Playside said Mouse: P.I. For Hire was the most successful game launch in the company’s history and generated US$28 million in gross sales.

The company also said it had carried out a restructure which had led to $12 million in annualised savings.

Shares looking cheap, broker says

Shaw and Partners said there was not much clarity on the outlook from the company, but with two new games in the pipeline there was the possibility of an earnings boost.

That said they were predicting a fall in earnings.

They said:

FY27 financial guidance is limited, with management highlighting continued MOUSE monetisation, Dumb Ways to Build launching in September, Game of Thrones: War for Westeros in 2H27 and ~$5m of incremental annualised cost savings. We forecast FY27 revenue of $45m (-19% YoY), EBITDA of $11m and cash burn of ~$11m, leaving ~$6m cash at year-end. Our forecasts assume relatively modest contributions from new game launches and External Projects, providing upside should either outperform.

Shaw and Partners has reduced their price target on Playside from 28 cents to 23 cents, still well above the current level of 11.5 cents.

Playside is valued at $56.6 million.

The post This ASX game developer could double in value: Broker 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 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.

Investors have learned today what the PLS Group Ltd (ASX: PLS) dividend will be following the release of the FY26 result.

The dividends have been restarted after a weak period for the lithium price. A 121% jump of the realised (sold) price to US$1,488 per tonne helped revenue climb 152% to $1.9 billion and net profit after tax (NPAT) rose 369% to $528 million.

There won’t be many ASX shares with a market capitalisation of more than $10 million that deliver that level of growth during this reporting season.

During the year, and thanks to improving lithium prices and market confidence, the ASX lithium share changed from defensive positioning to growth-focused. This led the business to restart the Ngungaju processing plant and update the study timelines for the P2000 and Colina projects.

The company also noted that the P2000 and Colina project feasibility studies have progressed and the P2000 pre-FID investment of approximately $175 million capital expenditure was approved in June.

PLS dividend announced

The PLS Group board of directors declared a fully franked final dividend of 5 cents per share. This represents a total payment of approximately $161 million to shareholders.

PLS Group said the declared amount is in line with its capital management framework and dividend policy.

The dividend represents a dividend payout ratio of 22% of FY26 adjusted free cash flow. The ASX lithium share noted that adjusted free cash flow is statutory operating cash flow minus tax paid and tax payable, minus sustaining capital (including capitalised waste mine development) and excludes customer prepayments.

When will this be paid?

Before we get to the payment date, we need to look at the ex-dividend date.

The ex-dividend date is the cutoff for entitlement to the upcoming dividend. PLS Group announced that its ex-dividend date is Wednesday, 2 September 2026. Therefore, the last day that investors can invest and gain entitlement to the payout is 1 September 2026 – just over a week away.

Following that, owners of PLS shares will receive the payment into their bank accounts on 24 September 2026.

At the pre-open price, the FY26 dividend represents a dividend yield of 1% excluding franking credits and 1.4% including franking credits. That’s not exactly a huge dividend yield, but the company is deliberately holding onto its cash so it can invest in its growth projects like Colina and P2000.

The company’s capital expenditure is expected to more than double to between $620 million to $685 million for FY27 as the business invests for growth.

The post Everything you need to know about the PLS Group dividend appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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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.

Earnings season is rolling on this week, with several prominent S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares dropping their latest numbers today. Amongst those shares was energy stock Ampol Ltd (ASX: ALD). Income investors may want to have a read to check out Ampol’s latest dividend, because it’s a doozy.

As we covered this morning, it was a bumper set of numbers that Ampol dropped for the first half of its FY2026. The company reported group earnings of $1.64 billion, up a whopping 152% on what it reported for the first half of FY2025. Net profit after tax (NPAT) (excluding significant Items) roared 376% higher to $857 million, while the company reported a statutory NPAT of $1.36 billion. That was up from a loss of $25 million last year.

But let’s get down to the dividends.

Over the past 12 months, Ampol has doled out a total of $1 per share in dividend payments to its investors. That $1 broke down into an interim dividend of 40 cents per share from last September. As well as a 60 cents per share final dividend from April. As is Ampol’s habit, both of these payments came with full franking credits attached.

Ampol shares lift as new monster dividend unveiled

However, what Ampol unveiled this morning puts those payments to shame. Investors just found out that they can expect an interim dividend of $1.85 per share in 2026, up an astonishing 362.5% over the equivalent payout from 2025. It will come fully franked as well.

Together with that final April dividend, this takes Ampol’s 2026 payouts to a hefty $2.45 per share.

Ampol has nominated 4 September next month as its ex-dividend date for this latest payout. So if investors want to receive this monster Ampol dividend, but don’t yet own shares, they will need to buy some before the close of trade on 3 September. Payment day will then roll aorund on 30 September.

Ampol does not currently offer a dividend reinvestment plan (DRP). As such, shareholders will have no option but to accept this dividend as a cash payment.

At the time of writing, the market has reacted positively to Ampol’s earnings, giving the company’s shares a 2.5% boost up to $40.85 each. At this share price, Ampol is trading on a trailing dividend yield of 2.45%. However, this dramatically increased new dividend now gives the company a much-improved forward yield of 6%.

That’s certainly worthy of a closer look if you are a dividend investor looking for income on the ASX today.

The post Everything you need to know about the monster Ampol dividend 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 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.