If you like the idea of earning an easy passive income, then ASX dividend shares are for you.

There are a huge range of ASX shares on the market which pay out dividends to shareholders every six months, or perhaps even more frequently.

But the hardest part is picking the best ones for your portfolio.

Here are two of my top high-yield ASX dividend picks. And these shares both pay a huge dividend of 10% or more.

BetaShares Australian Top 20 Equities Yield Maximiser Complex ETF (ASX: YMAX)

YMAX is an ASX-listed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that gives its shareholders exposure to Australia’s 20 largest blue-chip shares, rather than just one individual company.

I like the stock because it invests in a range of large Australian companies, which means it can provide greater diversification and reduce the risk of relying on the performance of one individual company. 

This makes it a more stable option for investors looking for regular passive income, while still giving them exposure to some of Australia’s biggest businesses.

The fund is heavily weighted into the financial sector, which accounts for 43.2% of its allocation at the time of writing. The materials sector is second, accounting for 24.8% of its allocation. 

Elsewhere, it also invests into the consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, industrials, real estate, communications, and healthcare sectors. 

YMAX also differs from a lot of other ASX dividend stocks because it pays its shareholders on a monthly basis.

As of the 31th of August, YMAX has a 12-month gross distribution yield of 9.5%, and a net yield of 8.1%. The total franking level is 41.4%.

The ASX dividend share is due to pay its next dividend ( 5 cents per unit) to shareholders next week. It has paid between 3.5 cents and 5 cents per share since it moved to monthly payouts in February this year.

Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Ltd (ASX: NEC)

Nine Entertainment is another attractive passive income option. The business has a large and established position in Australia’s media industry, combined with a long history of paying reliable and consistent dividends to its shareholders.

Australian media giant Nine Entertainment underwent a strategic reshape of its business in the first half of FY26. This included a broad portfolio restructure, acquisitions and asset sales, and enhancements to its digital and streaming revenue.

The ASX dividend company acquired QMS Media, sold Nine Radio, and restructured its NBN and Darwin TV operations. It also sold its controlling stake in property platform Domain. 

The $1.4 billion Domain deal allowed Nine to reduce debt and boost its balance sheet. It also meant it was able to return roughly $777 million (paying a special dividend at a rate of 49 cents per share) to investors in late-2025. 

Just last month, the ASX company announced its FY26 results, including a 3% increase in revenue, a 17% increase in EBITDA, and a final 3 cent per share dividend for FY26.

Combined with its 4.5 cent interim unfranked dividend paid in April, the total FY26 dividend comes to 7.5 cents. At the time of writing, this translates to a dividend yield of around 9.9%.

The post 2 ASX dividend shares yielding 9.5% (or even more) 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 recommended Nine Entertainment. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

NEXTDC Ltd (ASX: NXT) shares are under pressure despite the data centre operator securing $1.1 billion in fresh funding. The stock fell 3% to $12.41 during Thursday morning trading, taking its monthly decline to around 14% and its 12-month loss to roughly 25%.

The paradox is striking. NEXTDC is raising billions to capitalise on booming AI demand, yet investors appear increasingly concerned about how much it will cost to turn that demand into profits.

AI opportunity comes with a huge bill

The funding solves one problem, but highlights another.

NEXTDC is seeing customers reserve enormous amounts of data centre capacity well before the infrastructure is ready to generate revenue. At the end of FY26, contracted utilisation had reached 740.1MW, but only 175MW was already billing.

That leaves a substantial gap between capacity customers have committed to and infrastructure actually generating revenue.

Earlier this year, NEXTDC estimated its existing contracted utilisation could eventually generate more than $1 billion of EBITDA once delivered, without assuming any additional customer wins.

That sounds compelling. The catch is that delivering all that capacity requires an extraordinary amount of capital.

NEXTDC has been tapping equity, debt, and hybrid funding to accelerate construction, while its major developments require access to land, power, equipment, and skilled workers.

That makes execution critical for NEXTDC shares. Any delays, cost overruns, financing pressures, or slowdown in AI infrastructure spending could reduce the returns investors ultimately receive.

There can also be a lengthy lag between signing a customer and bringing new capacity online and generating revenue.

Investors are focusing on capital intensity

The scale of NEXTDC’s spending plans helps explain the market’s caution.

The company expects to spend between $5.25 billion and $5.75 billion in FY27, representing roughly 55% to 70% growth from FY26, as it races to build capacity for AI and cloud customers.

The latest $1.1 billion convertible notes issue is also NEXTDC’s third capital raising in just over four months.

For investors in NEXTDC shares, that reinforces an uncomfortable reality: the AI data centre boom may create enormous demand, but meeting that demand requires enormous upfront investment.

And higher interest rates make capital-intensive infrastructure businesses particularly sensitive to financing costs.

That’s why NEXTDC shares have fallen roughly 14% over the past month even as contracted utilisation has surged to about 740MW and the company carries a 565MW forward order book.

Foolish takeaway

The market isn’t necessarily questioning whether customers want NEXTDC’s infrastructure.

It’s questioning how much capital NEXTDC needs to spend before those megawatts translate into sustainable revenue and cash flow.

For shareholders, that’s the key tension behind the recent sell-off of NEXTDC shares.

The post NEXTDC shares are falling despite $1.1 billion funding boost. Here’s why 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.

DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) shares are down around 1% on Thursday.

The move comes despite a fresh trading update from the counter-drone technology company, although the broader market is also under pressure. The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is currently down around 1.3%.

So, has today’s announcement changed my view on DroneShield shares?

What did DroneShield announce?

DroneShield provided investors with a few updates this morning.

The company said FY26 committed revenue has now reached $251 million, up from $240 million reported on 21 August. This puts it inside management’s existing FY26 revenue outlook of $250 million to $270 million. DroneShield also has $46 million of committed revenue for FY27 and beyond.

I think the important part is the continued conversion of demand into actual orders.

DroneShield has spoken for some time about the growing need for counter-drone technology. Seeing more of that demand turn into contracted revenue gives me greater confidence that the opportunity is translating into real sales.

The company also received the first order for its newly released artificial intelligence-enabled RfRecon product. The order is not material financially, but the hardware will be deployed to an existing Western European military customer before the end of 2026.

DroneShield also announced that Rebecca Lowde will become chief financial officer in November. She brings experience from MYOB, Afterpay, Salmat, and Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX: BVS), which could be valuable as DroneShield becomes a much larger global business.

Why I still think DroneShield shares are a buy

I think today’s announcement adds another piece of evidence that DroneShield is continuing to scale.

The company operates in a market where governments and military organisations are becoming increasingly concerned about the threat posed by drones. DroneShield develops technology to detect, track, identify, and defeat those threats across fixed locations and mobile operations.

What I like is the potential for that demand to continue growing across multiple countries.

DroneShield is also expanding its product range rather than relying on one piece of hardware. The first RfRecon order is a small example, but successful deployment could potentially lead to further orders from existing and new customers.

At $1.71, the shares are also far below the highs reached previously and much closer to their lows.

I think that gives patient investors a more reasonable entry point into a company that still has substantial growth potential.

There is still plenty of risk

DroneShield remains one of the higher-risk ASX shares I would consider buying.

Defence contracts can be large but irregular, and revenue can move around considerably depending on when orders arrive.

The company also needs to prove that rapidly increasing sales can translate into much larger and more consistent profits over time.

That means I would probably keep any investment relatively small rather than making DroneShield a major portfolio position.

Foolish takeaway

Today’s trading update gives me another reason to remain positive on DroneShield.

Committed FY26 revenue has moved above $250 million, while the first RfRecon order shows customers are beginning to adopt another product from the company’s expanding technology range.

At current prices, I still think DroneShield shares are a buy for investors comfortable with the higher level of risk.

The post Should I buy DroneShield shares following today’s trading update? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Grace Alvino has positions in DroneShield. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Bravura Solutions and DroneShield. 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.