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  • Contact Energy: September 2026 monthly operating results

    Smiling oil worker in front of a pumpjack.

    The Contact Energy Ltd (ASX: CEN) share price is in focus today as the company released its September 2026 Monthly Operating Report, revealing mass market electricity and gas sales rose to 484 GWh, up from 372 GWh a year ago, while the wholesale business saw total net revenue per MWh decline compared to last year.

    What did Contact Energy report?

    • Mass market electricity and gas sales were 484 GWh (September 2025: 372 GWh)
    • Mass market netback was $145.99/MWh (September 2025: $150.12/MWh)
    • Wholesale contracted electricity sales were 978 GWh (September 2025: 986 GWh)
    • Electricity and steam net revenue was $147.46/MWh (September 2025: $162.48/MWh)
    • Electricity generated or acquired for the month was 1,069 GWh (September 2025: 1,106 GWh)
    • Unit generation cost (including acquired generation) fell to $37.83/MWh (September 2025: $48.79/MWh)

    What else do investors need to know?

    Contact Energy is progressing major renewable projects, with the Te Mihi Stage 2 geothermal plant expected online in Q3 of calendar 2027 at a project cost of $712 million, and the Glenbrook-Ohurua Battery 2 and Glorit Solar projects following in 2028. The company’s contracted gas volume for the next 12 months is 8.5 petajoules, while hydro storage levels in the South Island remain well above historical averages at 135% of mean.

    New Zealand’s national electricity demand for September 2026 was down 0.5% against last year, despite the average temperature being higher than usual. Contact Energy saw growth in customer numbers and continued its strong focus on sustainability, reporting a drop in greenhouse gas emissions intensity.

    What’s next for Contact Energy?

    Contact Energy is actively building out its renewable generation capacity, with three large projects under way to support New Zealand’s low-carbon future. The company’s focus remains on maintaining reliable supply, managing costs, and progressing its environmental initiatives while meeting community and customer needs.

    The ongoing investment in geothermal, battery, and solar capacity is expected to underpin future earnings growth. Contact Energy will keep monitoring market conditions and energy demand as it delivers on its development pipeline.

    Contact Energy share price snapshot

    Over the past 12 months, Contact Energy shares have declined 16%, trailing the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which has declined 3% over the same period.

    View Original Announcement

    The post Contact Energy: September 2026 monthly operating results 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.

  • Could Paladin Energy shares return 90% in 12 months?

    Happy businessman fist pumping while looking at a tablet.

    Recent weakness in the uranium industry could have created a buying opportunity for investors.

    That’s the view of analysts at Bell Potter, who believe that Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) shares could offer significant upside.

    What is the broker saying?

    Bell Potter was a touch disappointed with Paladin Energy’s quarterly update, highlighting that production was lower than expected. 

    However, sales volumes were ahead of estimates and average realised pricing was up strongly quarter on quarter. It said:

    PDN reported quarterly U3O8 production of 1.0Mlb, below our 1.3Mlb estimate with a planned one-week plant shutdown and lower quality ore feed as mining focused on J pit development. Recoveries were 85% (4Q FY27 90%) and unit costs of production were up 19% QoQ to US$62/lb. Sales were 1.2Mlb (BPe 1.1Mlb) at an average realised price of US$79/lb (up 12% QoQ), reflecting stronger uranium prices and a higher portion of sales into market-linked contracts. 

    PDN closed the quarter with U3O8 inventory of 2.0Mlb. At 30 September 2026, PDN had cash and investments of US$209m, net cash (excluding leases) of US$181m and available liquidity of US$279m (30 June 2026 net cash US$233m and available liquidity US$335m).

    Looking ahead, the broker points out that management has reaffirmed its guidance for FY 2027. It adds:

    PDN reiterated FY27 guidance (production 5.1-5.6Mlb (BPe 5.1Mlb); sales 4.8-5.3Mlb (BPe 4.9Mlb); and unit cost of production US$44-48/lb (BPe US$48/lb) with output 2H weighted following a scheduled plant shutdown in the current quarter. Recoveries are expected to trend higher as ore quality improves in the lower, southern benches of J pit, with unit costs to trend lower.

    Paladin Energy shares tipped to rocket

    According to the note, in response to its quarterly update, Bell Potter has retained its buy rating on Paladin Energy’s shares with a trimmed price target of $13.80 (from $14.50).

    Based on its current share price of $7.28, this implies potential upside of 90% for investors over the next 12 months.

    Commenting on its buy recommendation, the broker said:

    We retain our Buy recommendation. We have a positive medium- to long-term outlook for the uranium market, supported by barriers to new supply and demand growth linked to electrification, energy security and AI-related power requirements. PDN has ~54% exposure to market prices out to 2030. Production at LH should improve with higher-grade mined ore feeding the processing plant. PDN continues to derisk its key growth project at PLS in Canada’s Athabasca Basin.

    The post Could Paladin Energy shares return 90% in 12 months? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro 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.

  • Could high-flying Megaport shares rise another 50%?

    Man looking at his tablet in a data centre.

    Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) shares have been on fire this year.

    Since the start of the year, the cloud infrastructure provider’s shares have risen almost 50%.

    That is despite the company’s shares pulling back 25% from their 52-week high.

    The good news is that the team at Bell Potter doesn’t believe it is too late to climb on board the Megaport train.

    In fact, the broker believes there’s potential for big returns over the next 12 months.

    What is Bell Potter saying?

    Bell Potter notes that in its recent initiation note it underestimated Megaport’s growth potential and has upgraded its estimates to account for its recent contracts update. It said:

    We have reviewed our forecasts for Megaport post our recent initiation and also the contracts update in late September and decided we were too low, particularly in FY28. The key rationale is we estimate the annual underlying EBITDA from the GPU pool to be around $200m when fully utilised and, given this will ramp up in 1HFY28, we expect the EBITDA contribution in FY28 to be around $100m. 

    This will add to the underlying EBITDA of the core business which Megaport said in its recent contracts update will have an exit run-rate of >$650m in FY27. The total underlying EBITDA in FY28, therefore, should be >$750m and this is before any growth in the Network Services business which recently has been growing its top line in the mid to high teens and is expected to continue doing so for at least the short to medium term. All this makes our original underlying EBITDA forecast of $726m look too low and suggests a total figure of up around $770m looks more appropriate.

    Big potential returns

    Although Bell Potter has trimmed its valuation to reflect changes in peer multiples, it still sees potential for big returns between now and this time next year.

    According to the note, the broker has retained its buy rating on Megaport shares with a price target of $26.00 (from $27.00). 

    Based on its current share price of $17.39, this implies potential upside of approximately 50%.

    Commenting on its view of the stock, Bell Potter said:

    We have reduced the multiple we apply in our EV/EBITDA valuation from 10x to 9x and increased the WACC we apply in the DCF from 10.1% to 10.3% given the recent weakness in the share prices of both the domestic and offshore comps. The net result is a 4% decrease in our target price to $26.00 which is still a material premium to the share price so we maintain our BUY recommendation. 

    We continue to have a positive view on the stock due to valuation (FY28 EV/EBITDA of only 6x), strong forecast growth (which is fully funded), track record of execution, high visibility of earnings, AI exposure and differentiated business model (distributed inference).

    The post Could high-flying Megaport shares rise another 50%? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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    Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Megaport. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Megaport. 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.

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