To The Moon

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose, with Australian stocks among the top gainers, breaking ranks with key Wall Street peers that saw declines led by tech stocks.

The Australian market surged the most in two weeks to a fresh record, breaching 9000 points for the first time, supported by a wave of earnings beats on one of the busiest days of the corporate calendar.

As of the close on Friday, $S&P/ASX 200(XJO.AU)$ closed at 8,967.40 on Friday, up 0.32% in the past 5 days.

1. $STOCKLAND(SGP.AU)$ +12.68%

• Stockland reported a significant 170.6% year-over-year increase in statutory profit to $826 million and a 2.8% rise in post-tax Funds From Operations (FFO) to $808 million. This strong result led the company to declare an all-time high final dividend of 17.2 cents per share, contributing to investor enthusiasm.

• The recently acquired Masterplanned Communities (MPC) portfolio performed ahead of acquisition assumptions, with FY25 settlement volumes exceeding expectations. New strategic partnerships, like the one with John Boyd Properties to develop a $3.5 billion logistics hub near Sydney Airport, also contributed to positive sentiment.

• The S&P/ASX 200 Index was performing well around the same time, and there was positive momentum in the property sector. Stockland's results were a standout, leading its shares to significantly outperform the broader market.

2. $SEEK LTD(SEK.AU)$ +12.00%

• SEEK reported FY25 revenues of $1.09 billion (a 1% year-on-year increase) and a significant 41% jump in free cash flow to $203 million. Furthermore, the company provided positive guidance for FY26, anticipating group revenue growth of around 10% and EBITDA growth of approximately 15% at the midpoint, which analysts viewed as potentially conservative.

• The company announced a final dividend of 22 cents per share, fully franked, which represented a 37.5% increase compared to the previous year's final dividend. This dramatic rise in shareholder returns, supported by strong cash flow generation, was a positive signal to investors.

• Several brokers maintained or issued "Buy" (or equivalent) ratings with raised price targets. For instance, Macquarie retained its "Outperform" rating with a 12-month price target of A$32.50, and Bell Potter also maintained its buy recommendation, raising its price target to A$31.45.

• Analysts noted that volume declines in key markets like Australia and New Zealand were narrowing. They also expected the business to benefit from anticipated interest rate cuts, which could improve the hiring market and cyclical conditions.

3. $BRAMBLES LTD(BXB.AU)$ +11.80%

• Brambles reported a 15% jump in full-year net profit to $896 million and a 10% increase in underlying profit to $1.37 billion at constant currency rates, driven by improved asset efficiency and productivity savings from its transformation program.

• The company announced a 17% increase in its total dividend to 39.83 US cents per share and launched a new $400 million share buyback program for FY26, following the completion of a similar $403 million buyback in FY25, reflecting strong cash flow generation.

• Brambles provided an optimistic outlook for fiscal year 2026, forecasting sales revenue growth of 3-5% and underlying profit growth of 8-11% at constant exchange rates, which aligned with or modestly exceeded analyst expectations.

4. $NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LTD(NAB.AU)$ +8.37%

• The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) implemented multiple interest rate cuts in 2025. Its third rate cut of the year came on August 12, 2025, lowering the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.6%. Furthermore, the RBA projected future rate cuts totaling 80 basis points over the following year. These cuts aimed to improve economic prospects and generally boosted investor confidence in financial stocks.

• Despite reporting flat earnings growth compared to the same quarter last year, underlying performance was seen as decent. More importantly, investors were pleased to see reduced concerns over aggressive pricing competition within the banking sector. This combination, against the backdrop of a strong market, helped drive positive sentiment towards NAB shares.

• Reduced global trade tensions provided a significant boost to market risk appetite. Notably, the extension of the U.S.-China trade truce by three months alleviated concerns for trade-reliant economies like Australia. This, coupled with a positive outlook for Australian commodity exports, created a more favorable external environment, benefiting the entire Australian market, including banking stocks.

5. $Lottery Corporation Limited(TLC.AU)$ +7.92%

• Despite a 6.2% revenue decline, the company reported a solid underlying performance and increased its full-year ordinary dividend by 3.1% to 16.5 cents per share, fully franked, showcasing financial resilience and commitment to shareholder returns.

• Successful digital transformation (digital share of lottery sales rose to 41.8%) and cost management strategies led to broker upgrades (e.g., Morgan Stanley lifted EPS forecasts by 4.5% on average for FY26-28). Planned price increases for key games like Powerball (expected November 2025) further boosted investor confidence in future earnings.

• Positive analyst sentiment (e.g., Morgan Stanley's equal-weight rating with raised target price) and broader sector momentum (ASX 200 hitting record highs) contributed to increased investor interest, despite some concerns about FY26 growth sustainability.

With broad market hitting new highs, stocks surging, which AU stocks are you watching?

The top ASX paly is?

Banks, miners or tech stocks?

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