Chemist Warehouse is one of the most recognisable businesses on Australia’s streets. It’s owned by Sigma Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SIG), which isn’t a household name, but I think Sigma is an appealing ASX share to buy.

The country’s leading pharmacy business may be best known for Chemist Warehouse, but it also has other elements to the company including Amcal, Discount Drug Stores and a pharmaceutical wholesale business.

However, with Chemist Warehouse making up a significant majority of the company’s earnings, I think it’s the right place for investors to focus because of three different reasons.

Excellent performance by the existing store network

When there are many different growth areas of a business to consider, I think it’s important to see that the core business is performing strongly for shareholders, which is happening at Sigma Healthcare.

The core Chemist Warehouse network in Australia is doing very well and continues to drive the value of the intrinsic value of the business higher.

In early May, the business gave a trading update which revealed the Australian Chemist Warehouse network delivered total sales growth of 16.7% year-over-year for the period of 1 July 2025 to 30 April 2026. This was mostly powered by like-for-like (LFL) sales growth of 14.4%, which is an excellent rate of growth, in my view, for a large retail business.

Thankfully, the company has tailwinds such as Australia’s ageing and growing population. Plus, pharmacies are a huge market, so there is still a lot of market share the company could claim thanks to its scale benefits and low prices.

I expect Chemist Warehouse will be able to expand its Australian network with more stores at a pleasing pace over the rest of this decade.

Growth of the international network

Australia is not the only growth avenue for the business. The ASX share also operates in New Zealand, Ireland, Dubai and online in China.

Its international store network delivered 24.7% total sales growth and LFL sales growth of 14.4% for the period 1 July 2025 to 31 March 2026. I expect the company’s store networks in New Zealand and Ireland to steadily expand.

Excitingly, Sigma is also going to enter the UK market thanks to a joint venture agreement with Greenlight Healthcare. Greenlight has 22 stores in and around London – Sigma will acquire a 75% interest in a number of stores, with the other 25% continuing to be held by Greenlight.

Under that joint venture, Sigma will licence the Chemist Warehouse brand and intellectual property, and provide retail support (including ranging, store layout, inventory management and marketing support).

Phase one will rebrand up to five stores initially, with the option for more stores if the first phase is successful.

Improving profit margins

In my view, the ASX share has an exciting future of sales growth ahead, but profit growth could be even better because the company’s increasing scale helps profit margins rise. Additional revenue dollars are becoming increasingly profitable in each reporting period.

For example, in the first half of FY26, the company reported that revenue grew by 14.9% to $5.5 billion.

Normalised operating profit (EBIT) grew strongly, rising by 18.7% to $582.9 million – faster than sales growth.

The normalised net profit after tax (NPAT) grew 19.2% to $392 million – faster than the EBIT growth.

It’s normally net profit growth that investors value a business on, so the profit growth looks very appealing to me. The company can use this net profit to fund more growth, pay down debt and/or pay rising dividends to shareholders.

Overall, there’s a lot to like about this ASX share, though it’s not the only name I’d love to have in my portfolio.

The post 3 reasons why the ASX share owner of Chemist Warehouse is a buy 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.

Centuria Industrial REIT (ASX: CIP) is one of the high-yield ASX dividend stocks I’d be very happy to rely on for passive income rather than receive the Age Pension.  

While the ASX share market is a great place to find ideas that can help deliver passive income, there are relatively small number of names I’d be willing to significantly invest in.

This real estate investment trust (REIT) is one of the names I really like.

There is an appeal to REITs because of how defensive and predictable their income is, as rental income is contracted with tenants. REITs like this one have a range of high-quality tenants including Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS), Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), Arnott’s, AWH, Visy and Fantastic Furniture.

Why this ASX dividend stock is more appealing

The Centuria Industrial REIT owns a portfolio of high-quality industrial properties that are located in high-demand areas where the vacancy rate is low. This is helping drive up the rental income potential of the properties.

Another benefit of this investment is that owning all of these industrial properties, the ASX dividend stock offers investors significant asset backing, providing pleasing downside protection. The Age Pension does not have a large asset base that can be sold.

It’s also delivering good rental growth compared to many other property sectors. Industrial property is benefiting from tailwinds like e-commerce adoption, the onshoring of supply chains and data centres.

In the first half of FY26, the business reported 5.1% like-for-like net operating income (NOI) growth, which is a good growth rate for a REIT, in my view. Excitingly, the business reported that its portfolio was 20% under-rented, which suggests strong rental growth as contracts come up for renewal in the coming years – the business currently has a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) of more than six years.

The business grew its FY26 distribution by 3% year-over-year, which is a solid rate of growth amid higher interest rates. Over the longer-term, I think the business could have a very compelling future.

The final thing I’ll note is that the business is trading at a very large discount to its underlying value, which is measured as the net tangible assets (NTA) per unit. At December 2025, it had NTA of $3.95 per unit – that means it’s trading at a discount of close to 25%.

How many shares I’d need to match the Age Pension

Currently, the maximum Age Pension that an Australian can receive is around $31,200 per year.

Based on the FY26 annual payout of 16.8 cents per security, that level of passive income translates into a forward distribution yield of 5.6% (at the time of writing).

To receive $31,200 of annual income, an investor would need 185,715 Centuria Industrial REIT shares. While that would be a huge investment for most Australians, I’d be happy to make that purchase because of how cheap it is and what it can offer passive-income investors.

But, it’s not the only high-yield ASX dividend stock I’d buy for dividends.

The post 185,715 shares of this high-yield ASX dividend stock pays an income equal to the Age Pension 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 positions in and has recommended Telstra Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) shares were among the standout performers on Wednesday.

The buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider surged 8.5% to $3.20, comfortably outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which rose just 0.4%.

The rally extends Zip’s gain over the past month to 19%. While the shares remain down about 2% year to date, they’re now up roughly 13% over the past 12 months.

So, what’s suddenly got investors excited?

America is the prize

A big part of the optimism centres on Zip’s growing US business.

The company has spent several years investing heavily in expanding both its customer base and product offering across America, which has become its largest market.

That’s a market investors simply can’t ignore. Compared with Australia, the US buy now, pay later market remains relatively under-penetrated, giving Zip a sizeable runway for future growth as more consumers and merchants embrace flexible payment options.

Management of Zip shares has also been busy strengthening its distribution network. Late last year, Zip expanded its partnership with Stripe, allowing merchants using the payments platform to seamlessly offer Zip’s services at checkout.

It’s a meaningful opportunity. Stripe serves millions of businesses globally, giving Zip access to a huge pool of potential merchants without having to knock on every door individually.

UBS believes that Zip shares could have a strong finish to FY 2026, with robust transaction growth in the key US market. According to a recent note, the broker has been pleased to see that US consumer spending has been resilient despite global uncertainty.

The numbers are finally backing the story

For years, investors questioned whether BNPL companies could generate sustainable profits.

Zip is starting to answer that question. Over the past several quarters, management has tightened lending standards, controlled costs, and shifted its focus firmly towards profitability.

Those efforts are paying off. In its third-quarter FY26 update, Zip upgraded its group cash EBITDA guidance to at least $260 million, up from previous guidance of around $248.6 million.

That’s exactly the type of earnings upgrade investors in Zip shares like to see. It suggests the company is proving it can grow while also delivering stronger profits. A combination that was largely absent during the sector’s boom years.

Not without risks

The opportunity is attractive, but investors shouldn’t ignore the risks of Zip shares.

Competition remains fierce. Zip is battling global heavyweights including Klarna, PayPal, Block’s Afterpay business, traditional banks, and credit card providers. Any increase in competitive pressure could squeeze margins or slow customer growth.

Like many growth companies, Zip is also highly sensitive to interest rates, consumer spending, employment conditions, and overall market sentiment.

That means shareholders should probably expect plenty of volatility along the way.

What do the experts think?

Broker sentiment remains overwhelmingly positive. Analysts at UBS have retained their buy rating on Zip shares with an improved price target of $4.10, which points to a further 28% upside.

Meanwhile, United Capital Partners is even more bullish, with a $4.85 price target, around 52% above today’s share price.

According to TradingView data, 11 of the 12 analysts covering Zip have either a buy or strong buy recommendation. The average price target sits at $4.17, implying potential upside of around 30% from current levels.

The most optimistic analyst believes Zip shares could climb to $5.59, representing upside of roughly 75%.

The post Could US expansion send Zip shares soaring further? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Marc Van Dinther 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.