The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is catching investor attention this week.

At the time of writing, in Wednesday lunchtime trade, the shares are up around 1% and changing hands for $7.86 a piece.

Today’s increase follows a run of share price rises recently. Since dipping to a low of $7.04 in late June, the shares have now rebounded over 11%. 

They’re now up around 27% year to date, but are around 0.5% below the trading levels seen this time last year.

Why is everyone talking about the Santos share price?

There hasn’t been any price-sensitive news out of Santos this week.

It looks like the ASX 200 oil and gas giant’s share price is the talk of the town right now as conflict between the US and Iran continues to escalate.

Santos shares gradually cooled through June and into July, off the back of expectations that the conflict was winding down. When the original peace deal broke in June, Santos fell 8% in a single session. 

But a stark reversal over the past two weeks has reinvigorated the war risk tailwinds that saw the company’s shares fly higher earlier this year. 

Escalating conflict has quickly caused a spike in oil prices, which in turn acts as a strong tailwind for Santos shares.

Trading Economics data shows that the price of WTI crude oil has now climbed past US$85 per barrel and is hovering near six-week highs as supply risks intensify across several major export routes even beyond the Middle East.

“President Donald Trump dismissed the likelihood of imminent talks with Iran while warning of additional strikes and pledging retaliation if Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen disrupted shipping through the Red Sea,” Trading Economics said.

“The Red Sea has become a vital export corridor for Saudi Arabia during the conflict, enabling the kingdom to reroute part of its crude exports through pipelines and reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti tanker carrying oil products was struck in Hormuz, underscoring persistent threats to maritime traffic. Outside the region, traders are also monitoring a series of attacks on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal along Russia’s Black Sea coast, a key export hub for most of Kazakhstan’s crude.”

Company-specific tailwinds

Tightening oil supply isn’t the only thing driving the Santos share price higher. 

A few company-specific tailwinds, including a rise in production and improved cash flow, have also helped support the Santos share price recently.

In late April, Santos posted its March quarter update, revealing a 1% increase in production and a 3% rise in sales revenue compared with the prior quarter. 

Its free cash flow from operations of US$383 million was in line with Q425, and management reaffirmed its FY26 production and cost guidance.

The company also recently confirmed it has now hit continuous production at its Pikka oil project in Alaska. The project is now producing about 20,000 barrels of oil per day, which will ramp up to 80,000 barrels per day during the third quarter of 2026.

What do brokers expect next?

The experts are still very bullish that the Santos share price can keep climbing higher this year.

TradingView data shows that the majority (12 out of 14) analysts have a buy or strong buy rating on the shares.

The average $8.48 target price implies a potential 8% upside, at the time of writing. But some are even more bullish that the shares could jump another 35% to a multi-year high of $10.66 a piece.

The post The Santos share price is in the spotlight this week. Here’s why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Samantha Menzies 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.

Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX: WGX), Resolute Mining Ltd (ASX: RSG), and Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) shares are making waves today.

And all three of the big Aussie mining stocks are handily outperforming the 0.2% gains posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) today.

Here’s what’s catching investor interest on Wednesday.

Paladin shares lift on FY 2027 uranium guidance

Paladin shares are up 4.1% at the time of writing, changing hands for $8.91 each.

This outperformance follows the release of the ASX 200 uranium stock’s June quarter update as well as FY 2027 production and cost guidance for its Langer Heinrich Mine, located in Namibia.

Following the successful ramp-up of the Langer Heinrich Mine, Paladin is forecasting full-year uranium production of 5.1 million to 5.6 million pounds (U3O8).

The miner expects to sell 4.8 million to 5.3 million pounds over FY 2027, expecting an average cost of US$44 to US$48 per pound.

Paladin noted that the average realised uranium price it receives in FY 2027 could range as low as US$51 per pound to as high as US$103 per pound, depending on market prices.

Over the June quarter, Paladin produced 1.23 million pounds of uranium, achieving an average realised price of US$70.6 per pound.

Resolute Mining shares jump on expanded gold resource

Joining Paladin shares in outperforming today, Resolute Mining shares are up 3.2%, trading for 97 cents each.

This comes after the ASX 200 gold miner announced that the Mineral Resource Estimate at its ABC Project, located in Cote d’Ivoire, has increased to 3 million ounces of contained gold, up some 36% from the 2.2 million ounces reported last year.

And Resolute Mining isn’t slowing down.

The company said it currently has seven drill rigs at ABC, which it intends to increase to eleven rigs in August, with the planned 80,000 metres drill program underway.

“Since acquiring the asset last year, we have built strong momentum through exploration with the updated MRE representing a key milestone in the project’s development pathway,” Resolute Mining CEO Chris Eger said.

Which brings us to…

Westgold Resources shares surge on production record

Like Resolute Mining and Paladin shares, Westgold shares are enjoying a strong run today, up 3.4% at $4.73 apiece.

This follows the release of the ASX 200 gold stock’s June quarterly update.

Highlights included all-time high FY 2026 production of 387,354 ounces of gold. That tops the company’s FY 2026 guidance of 345,000 ounces to 385,000 ounces of gold.

On the balance sheet, Westgold held $939 million in cash, bullion, and liquid investments as at 30 June. That’s up $575 million from the end of FY 2025.

The post Why is everyone talking about Resolute Mining, Westgold and Paladin shares on Wednesday? 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.

The Elsight Ltd (ASX: ELS) share price is in focus today after the company released its Appendix 4C quarterly update, highlighting customer receipts of US$5.4 million and a closing cash balance of US$63.3 million at 30 June 2026.

What did Elsight report?

• Customer receipts of US$5.4 million for the June quarter (US$13.6 million year to date)
• Net operating cash outflow of US$175,000 for the quarter, with a 6-month net inflow of US$3.8 million
• Net cash used in investing activities totalled US$619,000 for the quarter
• Net cash from financing activities of US$296,000 in the quarter, mainly from option exercises
• Cash and cash equivalents at quarter end of US$63.3 million
• 361 estimated quarters of funding available at current cash burn rates

What else do investors need to know?

Elsight reports a healthy cash position, ending the quarter with over US$63 million in cash and no debt or overdrafts. The company’s quarterly net operating cash flow was negative, largely due to ongoing research, development, and product manufacturing investments.

There were no new financing facilities or borrowings recorded. Payments to related parties in the quarter totalled US$28,000, relating to director fees and salaries.

What’s next for Elsight?

With robust cash reserves and no outstanding debt, Elsight is well-placed to continue its investments in research, development, and product manufacturing. The company’s funding runway offers comfort to investors as it pursues its growth strategy.

Looking ahead, management will likely focus on converting its strong customer receipts into ongoing revenue growth and exploring new opportunities within its market segment.

Elsight share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, Elsight shares have risen 230%, outperforming the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO), which has risen 1% over the same period.

View Original Announcement

The post Elsight delivers solid cash flow in June quarter 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.