If you bought Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO) shares back on 6 January 2023, and opted to sell those shares on 20 June 2025, you would have booked a tidy 170.6% gain.

But if you’d instead bought shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) business and accounting software provider on 20 June 2025, and decided to sell them today, you’d be nursing a loss of 66.5%.

And Xero shares don’t pay dividends, so there’s no passive income relief there.

Which brings us to booming ASX tech stock SKS Technologies Group Ltd (ASX: SKS).

SKS Technologies designs and installs electrical, audiovisual and communications networking systems into the data centre, government and corporate sectors. And the rapid rollout of AI technology has helped send the ASX tech stock soaring.

Currently trading for $8.34 a share, the SKS Technologies share price is up a whopping 143.2% since this time last year, smashing the 1.1% 12-month loss posted by the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).

And, unlike Xero shares, SKS paid two fully franked dividends over the last year, totalling 10 cents a share. This sees the ASX tech stock trading on a fully franked trailing dividend yield of 1.2%. That equates to a grossed-up yield of 1.7%, once we take those franking credits into account.

Why the ASX tech stock looks like a better buy than Xero shares

The team at Canaccord Genuity believe SKS Technologies can continue to outperform in the months ahead.

In a bullish note addressing the company’s growth, released in August, the broker said:

Going into FY27, we expect further scale benefits and see the 2H margin of +12% as maintainable even when accounting for the fact that each additional staff member could be less efficient than their current staff base.

We also think SKS realises genuine efficiency benefits as contracts scale, which should limit margins retracting and instead provide upside potential to our estimates over time.

Canaccord has a buy rating on the ASX All Ords tech stock with a price target of $10.30 a share.

That represents a potential upside of 23.5% from the current share price. And it doesn’t include any upcoming dividends.

What did SKS Technologies report for FY 2026?

SKS Technologies released its FY 2026 results on 18 August.

Highlights included a 33.0% year-on-year increase in revenue to $347.93 million. And earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up 80.8% to $42.4 million.

Comparing that to Xero shares, Xero reported a 31% year-on-year increase in revenue to $2.75 billion, while EBITDA of $757.4 million was up 18%.

On the bottom line, SKS achieved a 93.2% increase in net profit after tax (NPAT) to $27.11 million.

Due to its Melio acquisition costs, Xero’s FY 2026 NPAT of $167.4 million was down 27% from the prior year.

The post Forget Xero shares! Broker tips this top ASX tech stock for 24% gains 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 positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sks Technologies Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

Analysts from Macquarie are soon to tour Nickel Industries Ltd (ASX: NIC)’s Indonesian operations, but have issued a positive research note on the company ahead of the visit.

Strong first half of the year

Nickel Industries last month reported a strong financial result for its first half, with revenue up 13.1% to US$938.4 million and net profit up 365.8% to US$52.5 million.

The company has hit a minor barrier since then, as the ramp-up of its Excelsior Nickel Cobalt HPAL project (ENC) has been interrupted by dry conditions in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, which have constrained water supply to the operation.

But the company is expecting normal operations to resume with the onset of the wet season by December.

The company said re the ENC operations:

Prior to the onset of the dry conditions, ENC had ramped up to approximately 50% of nameplate capacity within four weeks of the commencement of commissioning. Should the water supply constraints persist, ENC is expected to operate at approximately 30% of nameplate capacity until water availability normalises.

Nickel Industries said its Hengjaya mine, conversely, had been performing well, with record monthly nickel sales of 1.6 million tonnes in August.

Managing Director Justin Werner said re the update:

ENC has performed exceptionally well since commissioning, reaching approximately 50% of nameplate capacity within four weeks, which is a genuine credit to our operating team. The dry conditions in Central Sulawesi are an unusual and temporary constraint on water supply, and we expect availability to normalise with the onset of the wet season. Combined July and August Adjusted EBITDA from operations of approximately US$90 million demonstrates the earnings capacity of the broader business.

Nickel Industries shares looking cheap

Macquarie said in its research note that a planned slurry pipeline “between Hengjaya Mine and ENC could reduce unit costs by replacing truck haulage of limonite ore, with these savings not reflected in our forecasts”.

They added:

Given elevated diesel prices, the magnitude and timing of cost savings could be a focus during the site visit. At the HPAL operations, rising sulphur prices are emerging as a cost headwind as low-cost inventory is depleted, although this is currently offset by strong cobalt revenues. Quantifying sensitivity to both could also be a key focus.

Macquarie said the company had established a “meaningful battery minerals portfolio”.

The broker said they expected dividend payments to resume, with dividend yields of 1.2% in CY26 and 4.1% in CY27 forecast.

Macquarie has a share price forecast of $1.25 on Nickel Industries compared to 79.25 cents currently.

The post This ASX nickel miner could jump 57%, Macquarie says 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 positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Macquarie Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

It has been a rough month for Arafura Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: ARU) shareholders, but Friday is finally bringing some relief.

The Arafura Rare Earths share price is up 4.41% to 17.8 cents in morning trade after the rare earths developer released a new offtake update.

That comes after the stock fell to a 52-week low of 16.5 cents earlier this week.

Even with today’s rise, the shares are still down around 17% over the past month and 34% since the start of 2026.

So, let’s take a closer look at the details.

Arafura locks in more demand

According to the release, Arafura has extended an existing binding offtake agreement with a global wind turbine manufacturer.

The deal covers the supply of up to 500 tonnes per annum of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide equivalent from the Nolans Project in the Northern Territory.

The initial contract runs for 5 years, with the potential to extend it to 8 years.

Pricing will be in US dollars and linked to independent global rare earth pricing indexes, including Benchmark Mineral Intelligence or S&P Global Platts North America.

Arafura hasn’t named the customer, saying it doesn’t plan to disclose counterparties unless their identity is considered material.

The company also said it remains in discussions with a number of other parties over additional offtake.

This means that at the maximum annual volume, this agreement would represent just over 11% of Nolans’ planned NdPr production.

Construction is getting closer

The latest offtake deal adds another piece to Arafura’s plans to move the Nolans Project from development into construction.

Nolans is designed to produce 4,440 tonnes of NdPr oxide each year over a planned 38-year mine life. Arafura says the project could eventually supply around 4% of global demand.

NdPr is used in permanent magnets in products such as electric vehicles and wind turbines.

The board made its final investment decision (FID) in May, with construction targeted to begin from September.

Management said project financing is in its final stages, with contractual close and strategic equity subscription settlement targeted for October.

Foolish takeaway

I like this update, particularly with Arafura locking in more demand ahead of construction at the Nolans Project.

The agreement covers a decent chunk of future production and gives the company another customer before the project is even built.

And with financing also nearing completion, I think Arafura shares are starting to look more attractive at these levels.

At 17.8 cents, I’d be keeping a close eye on Arafura shares as the company moves closer to getting Nolans off the ground.

The post Guess why this ASX stock is jumping 4% on Friday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras 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.