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The Arafura Resources Limited (ASX: ARU) share price reset its 52-week low on Thursday at 12 cents after the ASX rare earths developer released its December quarterly activities report.

However, Arafura shares later recovered and closed the session up 4% at 13 cents. The ASX rare earths share has lost 77% of its value over the past 12 months.

Arafura owns the Nolans Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr) Project in the Northern Territory. NdPr is used in electric vehicles (EVs).

Let’s review the report.

Arafura share price hits new 52-week low

Let’s cover some of the numbers from the report first.

Over the three months to 31 December 2023:

• $800,000 spent on exploration and evaluation activities
• $2.7 million spent on corporate, administration, and business development
• $22.8 million spent on project development activities
• Average monthly cash expenditure decreased over the quarter to $8.7 million
• Cash reserves of $67 million as of 31 December, including institutional placement proceeds
• Arafura declared it has 2.5 quarters of funding left.

What else happened during the quarter?

Arafura completed early construction work at Nolans during the quarter. It now has an operations program underway to prepare the site for main construction once final project funding is sorted out.

The company expects to finalise funding in the first quarter of 2024. It says there are currently no material changes to capital cost estimates for the Nolans Project.

Arafura is seeking to fund Nolans via offtake agreements, debt funding and an institutional and retail capital raise.

Last month, Arafura received a letter of interest (LoI) from Korea EXIMbank (KEXIM), otherwise known as the Export–Import Bank of Korea and the official export credit agency of South Korea. KEXIM indicated an offer of up to US$150 million of debt funding via direct lending and an untied loan guarantee.

The LoI is linked to binding offtake arrangements with Hyundai Motor Corporation and Kia Corporation. South Korea wants to secure NdPr supply to help in the electrification of its car manufacturing sector.

Arafura said all contracted offtake groups are now strategically linked to international export credit agency support via non-binding Lols or similar.

$10 million share purchase plan fails to reach target

Today, Arafura also announced the results of its share purchase plan (SPP), which closed on Monday.

The SPP provided eligible shareholders the opportunity to apply for up to $30,000 worth of new Arafura shares at 16 cents per share. At the time Arafura announced the capital raise, this was a 20% discount.

Arafura was hoping to raise $10 million but received $6.5 million (before costs) from 710 applications.

The SPP follows a fully underwritten institutional placement in December, which targeted $20 million but was upsized to $25 million due to “strong demand from leading investor groups”, the company said.

Arafura share price snapshot

The Arafura share price has fallen 77% over the past year.

By comparison, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has increased by 0.98%.

The post Arafura share price resets 52-week low after quarterly update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Bell Potter is tipping huge returns from these small cap ASX shares

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen 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.

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The post Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Mineral Resources share price rockets 7% as lithium projects remain profitable
• Why Incitec Pivot, Mineral Resources, Patriot Battery Metals, and ResMed shares are racing higher
• This ASX 200 share is surging 5% after announcing a $500 million return to shareholders
• ResMed share price jumps almost 7% on stellar quarterly performance
• ResMed shares on watch after smashing Q2 expectations

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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 Nanosonics and ResMed. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Nanosonics and ResMed. 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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Despite pockets of optimism among ASX lithium shares today, the Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is whimpering as we approach the long weekend.

The lithium producer is fetching 18.5 cents apiece in afternoon trade, down 5.1% from yesterday. Meanwhile, other popular names in the space are climbing higher, such as Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN), which has lifted 5.3% after releasing its quarterly update.

Core Lithium has a catalyst of its own today in the form of an exploration update. However, it doesn’t appear to be striking a chord with shareholders.

Increased confidence not flowing to Core Lithium shares

Expanding available resources is important for miners, helping to ensure they don’t get depleted. No resource means no product, and no product equates to zilch revenue.

Last year, Core Lithium worked on avoiding such a fate by conducting an exploration program. The program was segmented into three phases, encompassing drilling works across several targets at the company’s Finniss District in the Northern Territory.

The 2023 program is now complete, with Core Lithium summarising its findings.

In the first phase, the company conducted drilling at BP33 and Carlton. Results from this have previously been reported, namely the increase of BP33’s mineral resource estimate to 10.5 million tonnes at 1.53% lithium oxide.

What is new knowledge to investors is the drill program in phase two. This phase focused on Lees-Booths, Hang Gong, Ah Hoy, and Penfolds deposits (see the drilling map below for context).

The findings are as follows:

Lees-Booths deposit

• 15 metres at 1.18% lithium oxide from 490 metres
• 20 metres at 1.64% lithium oxide from 485 metres
• 21 metres at 1.42% lithium oxide from 171 metres
• 16 metres at 1.57% lithium oxide from 146 metres
• 11 metres at 1.75% lithium oxide from 168 metres
• 20 metres at 1.02% lithium oxide from 165 metres
• 15 metres at 1.40% lithium oxide from 244 metres
• 26 metres at 1.13% lithium oxide from 246 metres

Penfolds

• 20 metres at 1.20% lithium oxide from 295 metres
• 25 metres at 1.20% lithium oxide from 89 metres
• 20 metres at 1.48% lithium oxide from 155 metres
• 44 metres at 1.23% lithium oxide from 235 metres
• 26 metres at 1.61% lithium oxide from 195 metres

Hang Gong (best result)

• 13 metres at 1.29% from 164 metres

In phase three, the company applied ambient noise tomography to identify new pegmatite bodies. These results were used to inform drilling locations during the third phase. Importantly, Core Lithium highlighted its goal of locating larger targets to drive scale.

The exploration program will be reviewed in the March 2024 quarter to determine its next steps.

Demand driver at risk

Some insight into the demand for lithium in 2024 could also be dragging on the Core Lithium shares.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) published its latest quarterly figures this morning. Inside its presentation, the company warned its vehicle production growth could be “notably lower” than in 2023.

As EVs require lithium for their batteries, a reduced increase in production could mean lower lithium required than originally anticipated, potentially putting more pressure on the already slaughtered price of lithium.

Core Lithium has had to suspend mining operations amid the lower commodity price. Any hint at even softer conditions could cause alarm among investors and Core Lithium shares.

The post Core Lithium shares dive 5% on exploration update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Core Lithium share price soars 5% as production increases and costs fall
• Here’s the lithium price forecast through to 2027
• Mineral Resources shares tumble 9% on unfavourable broker rating
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler has positions in Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Tesla. 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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Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) shares are in COVID-recovery mode, with the share price climbing from an all-time low of $8.92 during the market crash in March 2020 to $20.03 today.

After a four-year freeze on dividends, the company resumed paying them last year.

Flight Centre announced the resumption of dividends as part of its FY23 full-year results. The company told the market it had returned to profit and would pay an 18-cent final dividend, fully franked.

That was well off the last final dividend of 98 cents per share announced in September 2019.

That 18 cents represented a measly 0.8% dividend yield based on the Flight Centre share price at the time.

The company said it would allocate 50% to 60% of net profit after tax (NPAT) to dividends and/or buybacks in the future.

What has happened since COVID?

COVID decimated Flight Centre’s business and earnings and forced an internal operations overhaul.

But the company made it out of the COVID emergency alive, and in FY23, it reported its second-best full-year result ever after total transaction value (TTV) more than doubled during the recovery to $22 billion.

That was second-best to the financial year prior to the pandemic, FY19. Back in those days, Flight Centre shares were trading at all-time highs, hitting a historical peak in August 2018 at $70.53.

Today, the ASX travel share is trading at less than a third of that value, but its earnings are clearly on the way back to pre-pandemic levels.

Not only that, but that overhaul mentioned earlier led to operating expenses falling to 75% of what they were in FY19. Productivity has also improved, with TTV per full-time employee up 52% compared to FY19.

Does this present an opportunity to buy Flight Centre shares at a pandemic-pummelled price, with the dividend yield on those holdings likely to rise as earnings and dividends grow from here?

Let’s see what the experts have to say about the passive income potential of Flight Centre stock.

What are the brokers forecasting for dividends?

The consensus analyst forecast published on CommSec today shows the Flight Centre full-year dividend is expected to be 47.4 cents in 2024. On today’s share price, that’s a yield of 2.26%.

In 2025, the analysts expect Flight Centre to pay about 69 cents per share. That’s a yield of 3.3% on today’s price.

And in 2026, the analysts are tipping a dividend of 84.2 cents, or a yield of 4%. That’s pretty much the average dividend yield delivered by ASX 200 shares.

But here’s the bigger question.

Could Flight Centre ever go back to paying dividends at the level it did before the pandemic?

In 2019, the company paid $1.58 per share (excluding a special cash dividend). In 2018, it paid $1.67 per share. At those levels, the yield on Flight Centre shares bought today would be 7.5% to 8%!

Will the Flight Centre share price grow in 2024?

Analysts at Morgans think the Flight Centre share price could appreciate by about 25% this year.

They have an add rating on Flight Centre shares with a 12-month price target of $26.

The broker says it has confidence that the travel recovery “has much further to go”. It also noted that the benefits of Flight Centre’s transformed business model are only now emerging.

The consensus rating on Flight Centre, as published on CommSec today, is a moderate buy. The travel stock was upgraded from a hold rating in February 2023. It was reviewed in May and kept the same.

Of the 17 analysts providing ratings on Flight Centre shares, eight say the stock is a strong buy. Three say it’s a moderate buy, and six say it’s a hold.

It’s worth noting that Flight Centre shares have been among the most shorted stocks on the ASX for some time. In our latest report, we revealed a short position of 8.3% on Flight Centre shares.

While this is a significant portion of capital, it is a vast improvement on this time last year when 14.07% was shorted.

At the time, Flight Centre was trading at $15.86 per share. The travel stock continued to rise throughout 2023, defying those pessimistic predictions of price falls.

The post Is now the time to buy Flight Centre shares for passive income? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• Why these ASX 200 shares could rise 20% to 50%
• If I’d invested $10,000 in Flight Centre shares a year ago here’s what I’d have now!
• These are the 10 most shorted ASX shares
• 3 ASX growth shares to buy to supercharge your portfolio

Motley Fool contributor Bronwyn Allen has positions in Flight Centre Travel Group. 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 Flight Centre Travel Group. 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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It’s been a mildly positive day overall for ASX shares this Thursday. At the time of writing, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has inched 0.09% higher and is back over 7,750 points. But let’s talk about what’s going on with the BrainChip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) share price.

Brainchip shares have had a very interesting day so far. The artificial intelligence (AI) stock closed at 15.5 cents a share yesterday. But this morning saw the company spike just after market open, climbing as high as 16.2 cents. That was a spike worth roughly 4.5% at the time.

Since then, Brainchip shares have cooled off and are flat at 15.7 cents each.

Brainchip hasn’t exactly been a lucrative investment of late. The AI company remains down more than 76% over the past 12 months, so any significant gains in the stock price are probably going to be very welcome for investors.

Today’s gains come after Brainchip released its latest quarterly activities report this morning, which probably explains the company’s positive moves.

Brainchip shares bounce after losses slow

Brainchip’s quarterly report covers the three months to 31 December. The company started off by touting that its Akida 2.0 product became available for customers during the period.

On the balance sheet, Brainchip revealed that it ended the quarter with US$14.3 million in the bank, compared with US$17.8 million at the end of the previous quarter.

Cash outflows slowed to US$3.3 million, down from US$4 million the previous quarter.

In some other good news, the company also announced that its cash inflows from customers were positive for the quarter, with the company earning US$780,000 in inflows for the three months to 31 December. That compares against a loss of US$30,000 for the preceding quarter.

So it’s possible investors are feeling positive after these numbers become public this Thursday, and are thus rewarding the Brainchip share price during today’s trading.

As we touched on earlier though, Brainchip shares have a long way to go if investors are to recover the past 12 months’ losses. Let’s see what the rest of 2024 holds in store for this ASX AI stock.

The post Here’s why BrainChip shares are making waves today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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.

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The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is moving to greener pastures on Thursday after publishing its fourth-quarter report.

Shares in the oil and gas producer are inching 0.7% ahead to $7.67 as we head into the afternoon. While it may not be a monumental move, it beats today’s measly 0.27% gain from the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

However, Santos shares remain rangebound between $6.90 and $8.00. Roughly floating between these two price points, the energy major has failed to meaningfully break out of this range for a year and seven months.

Quarterly uptick bolsters Santos share price

Here are the main takeaways from the quarter ended 31 December 2023:

• Production of 91.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) year-to-date 2023, down 11%
• Quarterly production up 1% to 23.4 MMboe versus the third quarter
• Quarterly sales volume up 5% to 25.3 MMboe
• Quarterly sales revenue up 3% to US$1.486 billion (A$2.26 billion)

The bulk of fourth-quarter revenue for Santos, like Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS), was derived from LNG sales. Approximately 63% of revenue came from liquefied natural gas, benefitting from increased volume and a slightly higher average realised price.

A modest increase in LNG prices helped offset a reduction in the average realised price for crude oil during the quarter. As shown in the table above, Santos saw its crude price slip from US$89.97 a barrel to US$88.04.

What did management say?

Commenting on the quarter, Santos managing director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said:

The fourth quarter brought free cash flow for the full year to $2.1 billion, an outstanding achievement in what has been a challenging year.

It positions us well to deliver shareholder returns, backfill and sustain our existing business, complete our major projects, Barossa and Pikka, progress our decarbonisation plans and grow our Santos Energy Solutions business.

Touching on the recent merger talks with Woodside Energy, Gallagher explained:

As previously announced, Santos is in early-stage discussions to evaluate the merits of a potential merger with Woodside. The parties have agreed to exchange information to assess the benefits for our shareholders. Santos continues to consider alternative options to accelerate value for shareholders. There is no certainty that any transaction will eventuate from these discussions.

Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill provided a similar statement in its quarterly report yesterday.

What’s next?

Santos confirmed its full-year 2023 guidance remains unchanged. Investors will be able to see all the nitty-gritty details when the energy giant publishes its results for the year on Wednesday, 21 February.

Meanwhile, guidance for 2024 showed an estimated reduction in production and sales volumes. While 2023 is expected to see 89 MMboe to 93 MMboe produced, management is mapping out 84 MMboe to 90 MMboe in 2024.

Likewise, sales volumes are forecast to slide from 90 MMboe to 100 MMboe down to 87 MMboe to 93 MMboe.

Santos share price snapshot

The Santos share price has struggled to outperform its peers or a benchmark index. Over the past five years, shares have risen 21.6% compared to the 27.7% gain from the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).

Factoring in dividends, the return increases to 39.3%, still 19% behind the benchmark.

Based on the current Santos share price, the company trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 9.6 times. This is a notable premium to the industry average for the Australian oil and gas industry.

The post Santos share price rises on $2.3 billion revenue from ‘challenging year’ appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
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• At under $31, should I be rushing to buy Woodside shares?
• Down 31%: Buy the dip on these ‘attractive’ ASX 200 dividend shares

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler 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.

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Two S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) uranium shares are marching higher today, adding to the outsized gains they’ve already delivered to longer-term shareholders.

Namely leading uranium stocks Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) and Boss Energy Ltd (ASX: BOE).

The Paladin Energy share price is up 0.3% at the time of writing in late morning trade on Thursday, trading for $1.24 a share. That sees the Paladin Energy share price up 52% since this time last year.

The Boss Energy share price is up 0.6% at this same time, trading for $5.50 a share. Investors who bought this ASX 200 uranium share 12 months ago will be sitting on enviable gains of 125%.

Both companies released their quarterly updates this morning.

Read on for the highlights.

ASX 200 uranium share Boss Energy reports on pivotal quarter

The Boss Energy share price is in the green after the company reported on a “pivotal quarter”.

Over the three months to 31 December, the ASX 200 uranium share generated its first production-grade uranium at its Honeymoon asset. The company also signed its first offtake agreement and completed its first international asset acquisition.

The Boss Energy share price has also enjoyed some heady tailwinds from soaring uranium prices, which topped US$100 per pound over the quarter.

Commenting on the company’s achievements, Boss Energy managing director Duncan Craib said, “It was an extremely pivotal quarter for Boss, which saw us achieve several major milestones on the path to becoming a substantial global uranium company.”

Craib added:

During the quarter, we also laid the foundations for more growth with the purchase of a 30% stake in the Alta Mesa project in Texas.

This project has many key similarities to Honeymoon and will enable us to diversify our production base on both a project and geographical basis while driving growth in our production and cashflow.

As at 31 December 2023, the ASX 200 uranium share had no debt, cash of $227 million and a uranium stockpile valued at $202 million, based on current spot prices.

Paladin Energy nearing commercial uranium production

Paladin Energy shares are also in the green at the time of writing after the ASX 200 uranium share reported that production activities had commenced. The first ore feed into its Langer Heinrich Mine processing plant took place post the reporting quarter, on 20 January.

The Langer Heinrich Mine restart project is now 93% complete, with final construction and ongoing commissioning activities continuing across the processing plant.

Management is still aiming for first commercial production by the end of the first quarter of 2024. However, they noted this may get pushed into the second quarter due to “lower contractor productivity over the Christmas / New Year period”.

Paladin Energy is now estimating total project capital costs of around US$125 million, up from the company’s prior estimate of US$118 million.

The company executed a US$150 million syndicated debt facility on 24 January to provide it with capital flexibility as it transitions through ramp-up and progresses to full production.

Commenting on the progress the ASX 200 uranium share made over the quarter, Paladin CEO Ian Purdy said:

After more than six years of care and maintenance it is exceptionally pleasing to see production activities recommence at the Langer Heinrich Mine, with first ore feed to the processing plant achieved in January.

As at 31 December, the ASX 200 uranium share had unrestricted cash of US$62 million.

The post Up 124% and 52% in a year, why are these 2 ASX 200 uranium shares gaining again today? 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.

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If you’re worried, or at least a little nervous, about retirement, I wouldn’t blame you. Contemplating the start of what could be decades of not working and not receiving the primary source of income we’ve all gotten used to in our working lives is a big adjustment to make.

It’s no small feat to set up your finances to ensure you don’t run out of money when you’re in your eighties or nineties.

In a recent survey, State Street Global Advisers found that just 20% of respondents in 2023 expected they would be able to save up enough to retire. That was down from 25% in 2022 as well. The vast majority (73%) of those surveyed cited inflation and cost of living pressures as the most relevant factor for their answer.

If you’re worried about retirement, investing in ASX shares before you reach retirement age could be the biggest favour you do yourself. Thanks to the effects of compounding, this favour will become more significant the earlier you get started.

Let’s assume someone who is 60 years old and wants to retire at the age of 65 invests $10,000 into ASX shares. If this investor manages to achieve a 10% rate of return (not a guaranteed return by any means) by reinvesting their dividends, they will have approximately $16,453 by the time they get to the age of 65. That’s decent. But probably not enough to make a big difference to their retirement prospects.

How to add years of enjoyment to your retirement

But instead, let’s assume that our investor puts that $10,000 into ASX shares at the age of 45 and lets it compound for 20 years. By the time they reach their retirement age goal of 65, that $10,000 will have grown into $73,281. Now we’re starting to see a difference in their retirement goals.

Let’s now assume that our investor puts $10,000 into ASX shares at the age of 25 and just leaves it until age 65. At this 10% rate of return, they will have around $537,000 by age 65. That’s enough to add years of enjoyment to a retirement.

These numbers show the exponential power of compounding if given enough time.

But if you’re past the age of 25, there are still some things you can do to speed up the compounding process. Let’s go back to our hypothetical investor who starts investing when they’re 45 years old.

By just ploughing $10,000 into ASX shares at age 45, they will end up with just over $73,000 by age 65, as we touched on earlier. But if this investor manages to find an extra $100 a month to invest, they can potentially double that final outcome to just under $150,000.

If they stretch even further and make it an extra $100 a week? They’d be looking at a potential $400,000 portfolio by the time they hit retirement age.

If our investor, who starts at age 25, came up with that $100 a week in extra investments, they would be sitting on a nest egg worth an astonishing $3.28 million.

Investing in ASX shares at any age can produce wealth-building effects. But those effects are magnified dramatically if we increase our periodic investments and time horizon. It’s more than enough to add years to a comfortable retirement at any age.

The post Worried about retirement? How investing $10,000 in ASX shares now could add years of enjoyment appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Mineral Resources share price rockets 7% as lithium projects remain profitable
• Why Block, Domino’s, IDP Education, and Sayona Mining shares are sinking like stones today
• Why Incitec Pivot, Mineral Resources, Patriot Battery Metals, and ResMed shares are racing higher
• Tesla share price screeches 6% lower as vehicle growth hits speed bump
• Why is the Sayona Mining share price crashing 9% today?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen 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.

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The Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN) share price is soaring higher today.

Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) lithium stock and diversified resources producer closed yesterday trading for $55.47. At the time of writing on Thursday morning, shares are swapping hands for $59.45 apiece, up 7.2%.

For some context, the ASX 200 is up 0.3% at this same time.

This comes following the release of Mineral Resources’ quarterly update for the three months ending 31 December.

Here are the highlights.

Mineral Resources share price lifts on profitable lithium outlook

Investors are bidding up the Mineral Resources share price after the ASX 200 miner reported improvements across most of its operating segments.

For the Mining Services division, the company reported a 9% quarter on quarter increase in production volumes to 72 million tonnes (Mt).

Mineral Resources iron ore shipments were also up 23% from the prior quarter, at 4.8 million wet metric tonnes (wmt). The miner received an average quarterly price of US$119 per dry metric tonne (dmt).

Management said that the company’s Onslow Iron project in Western Australia “is progressing at pace and expected to be delivered well within budget”. Mineral Resources is aiming for its first ore-on-ship from the project in June.

And the company noted that it “expects to introduce a partner to own a 49% interest in the Onslow Iron dedicated haul road this half to coincide with first ore on ship.”

As for its energy segment, gas drilling commenced over the quarter at Mineral Resources’ Lockyer-5 project in WA. This is expected to be developed as one of 10 production wells. Management plans to make a Final Investment Decision (FID) on the gas processing facility this quarter.

On the lithium front, ASX 200 investors may be bidding up the Mineral Resources share price after the company said that its Wodgina, Mt Marion and Bald Hill assets are all profitable at current lithium prices. That’s despite the massive fall in lithium prices over the past year.

Management forecasts that costs at Wodgina and Mt Marion will fall this year as stripping completes. They also noted that Wodgina lithium battery chemical production came in at 6,800 tonnes, with sales up 52% quarter on quarter to 6,500 tonnes.

The quarter also saw the ASX 200 miner finalise its acquisition of Bald Hill, assuming project control on 1 November 2023, which could offer a boost to the Mineral Resources share price over the longer term.

“Over this period, the mine produced 26k dmt of spodumene concentrate, with 20k dmt shipped,” according to the miner.

As for the balance sheet

The three months saw Mineral Resources complete a five-year US$1.1 billion Senior Unsecured Notes Offering at 9.25%. Management expects H1 2024 net debt to be between $3.47 billion and $3.61 billion.

FY 2024 volume and cost guidance remained unchanged for all its operations.

Mineral Resources share price snapshot

Despite today’s welcome lift, the Mineral Resources share price has some more lost ground to make up, with shares down 37% over the past 12 months.

The post Mineral Resources share price rockets 7% as lithium projects remain profitable appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why Incitec Pivot, Mineral Resources, Patriot Battery Metals, and ResMed shares are racing higher
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today
• Mineral Resources shares tumble 9% on unfavourable broker rating
• Why these ASX 200 shares could rise 20% to 50%
• Why I’d consider buying Mineral Resources shares to tap into Kali Metals

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.

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In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to extend its winning run. The benchmark index is currently up 0.15% to 7,530.5 points.

Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market’s lead are listed below. Here’s why they are falling:

Block Inc (ASX: SQ2)

The Block share price is down almost 6% to $94.99. This follows a similarly sharp decline by the payments company’s shares listed on the NYSE overnight. However, it remains unclear why they were sold off on Wall Street.

Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP)

The Domino’s share price is down almost 30% to $40.28. Investors have been hitting the sell button today after the pizza chain operator released a trading update which fell well short of expectations. Domino’s preliminary half-year net profit before tax is expected to be between $87 million and $90 million. This misses the consensus estimate of $103 million by a decent margin.

IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL)

The Idp Education share price is down 3% to $19.50. This language testing and student placement company’s shares have come under pressure this week after Canada announced plans to limit foreign student visas in response to housing shortages. Student numbers will be down by approximately a third in 2024. This could be a blow to IDP Education’s operations in the country.

Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA)

The Sayona Mining share price is down 7% to 4.1 cents. This morning, this lithium miner announced that it is undertaking an operational review of North American Lithium (NAL) operation. This review will focus on optimising its cost structure to manage cash flow and enhance financial sustainability. One positive is that management hopes to keep producing lithium through the cycle. The results of the review will be released by the end of the quarter.

The post Why Block, Domino’s, IDP Education, and Sayona Mining shares are sinking like stones today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• Why is the Sayona Mining share price crashing 9% today?
• Why are Domino’s shares sinking 22% today?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• The ASX 200 stock that could rocket now that Bitcoin ETFs are running
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has positions in Domino’s Pizza Enterprises. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Block, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, and Idp Education. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Domino’s Pizza Enterprises and Idp Education. 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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