Lunch Wrap: Zip gets mauled as miners drag the ASX lower

• ASX slips as miners drag their feet
• Zip goes haywire after US fraud shock
• Retailers bounce back from bargain bin

The S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.4% by Friday lunchtime in Sydney, putting it on track to finish the week 0.8% in the red.

Wall Street had a shocker overnight.

Big tech got smashed as Meta’s monster AI spending plans spooked investors, while Middle East tensions sent oil past US$113.

Back home this morning, miners and energy stocks were dragging the ASX into the mud after commodity prices took a beating.

Gold, silver, copper, the lot – nobody wanted anything that came out of the ground.

Retailers, though, were suddenly fashionable again after yesterday’s trip through the bargain bin.

In large cap news…

Zip Co (ASX:ZIP) gave shareholders one hell of a Friday morning, opening a whopping 50% lower before shooting up more than 40% in just seven minutes.

Even a dodgy elevator would’ve given a smoother ride. And the stock was still down 30% as we speak.

Turns out a US fraud incident cost Zip $10.1 million, leaving quarterly cash earnings at $65 million, some 15% shy of forecasts.

Bad debts climbed to 1.97%, and brokers were asking some awkward questions about Zip’s fraud controls.

Cinema and hotel mob EVT (ASX:EVT) had a much nicer story to tell, lifting quarterly earnings 17% to $72.5 million.

Thredbo had its worst snow conditions in more than 40 years, but cinema earnings went bananas, surging 171% thanks to blockbusters like the latest Spider-Man flick.

Turns out popcorn was a better gig than snowflakes this quarter.

Down in the mining pits, Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) shifted a record 170,000 tonnes of lithium and managed to knock $200 million off its debt, bringing it down to $4.1 billion.

Iron ore shipments, though, slipped 6% to 7.8 million tonnes. Still, MinRes stuck with its full-year production and cost targets.

Shares were down 3%, with pricier diesel threatening the next quarter.

Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) also slipped 2% after deciding to splash $1.9 billion on a new Queensland bauxite mine.

The mine should eventually churn out 20 million tonnes a year, with first production pencilled in for 2029.

It’s basically replacing ageing operations at Weipa.

And Alkane Resources (ASX:ALK) had a pretty decent quarter on paper, pumping out 40,700 gold-equivalent ounces, beating cost forecasts and generating $102 million in operating cash.

It even paid its first-ever 2-cent dividend and has a $50 million share buyback approved.

Shares were still down 6%. Tough crowd to please.

Over in energy, Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) cranked up production 22% to 11 million tonnes.

Only problem was getting the stuff out the door. Port disruptions held up shipments and helped push debt to $1.4 billion.

And finally… Beach Energy (ASX:BPT) has struck a binding deal to get its hands on a slice of Elixir Energy’s (ASX:EXR) Queensland gas acreage, coughing up $25 million in cash and committing another $90 million to exploration work.

Elixir reckons the whole package is worth $205 million, although the deal still needs approvals before it’s expected to wrap up in the second half of FY27.

Elixir shares jumped 7%, while Beach slipped 1%.

ASX LEADERS

Today’s best-performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:

Security Description Last % Volume MktCap AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.002 50% 5,000 $1,352,613 ATC Altech Batt Ltd 0.002 50% 450,000 $2,669,056 RDS Redstone Resources 0.003 50% 666,666 $2,609,963 WEL Winchester Energy 0.002 50% 1,500,000 $1,713,019 ENV Enova Mining Limited 0.002 33% 274,445 $3,416,414 HPC Thehydration 0.004 33% 450,000 $1,613,965 PRM Prominence Energy 0.002 33% 250,000 $4,061,501 TPW Temple & Webster Ltd 5.115 26% 1,866,136 $474,345,195 HYT Hyterra Ltd 0.005 25% 25,300 $8,571,512 M2M Mtmalcolmminesnl 0.005 25% 883,999 $3,173,867 PV1 Provaris Energy Ltd 0.005 25% 1,500,000 $5,699,949 X2M X2M Connect Limited 0.005 25% 84,491,135 $10,378,192 ARC ARC Funds Limited 0.042 24% 286,423 $3,060,160 CAN Cann Group Ltd 0.006 20% 14,356,224 $8,302,968 ACM Aus Critical Mineral 0.026 13% 126,771 $3,449,573 CTN Catalina Resources 0.045 13% 63,176 $9,847,423 IPD Impedimed Limited 0.005 13% 846,020 $14,650,164 RAD Radiopharm 0.005 13% 541,452 $18,843,531 IVX Invion Ltd 0.037 12% 148,505 $3,648,253 3DA Amaero Inc. 0.190 12% 772,085 $162,065,624 NGS NGS Ltd 0.019 12% 600,000 $16,388,703 EGA Eastern Gas Corp 0.150 11% 8,000 $3,712,500 REE Rarex Limited 0.010 11% 170,390 $10,948,953 ADN Andromeda Metals Ltd 0.006 10% 1,845,726 $25,709,202 XST Xstate Resources 0.011 10% 3,787,095 $4,798,929

X2M Connect (ASX:X2M) has struck a deal with a Queensland developer to help build and run a 10MW AI data centre, with the whole project tipped to cost $250 million.

The good news is, initial power and council approvals are already sorted.

X2M is looking to pocket fees from getting the thing built and then managing it, although the final deal still needs signing.

That takes its tally to 20MW across two projects worth more than $500 million in estimated development costs.

Online retailer Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) said revenue fell 8% from July 1 to October 19 as it eased off the discounting, but contribution margin dollars jumped 16%, so it’s making more from what it sells.

It’s sticking with its $33 million to $40 million FY27 earnings forecast, expects sales growth to return from mid-February and is eyeing a New Zealand expansion using AI agents.

ASX LAGGARDS

Today’s worst-performing stocks (including small caps) intraday:

Security Description Last % Volume MktCap HWK Hawk Resources. 0.007 -74% 71,927,760 $18,629,545 OVT Ovanti Limited 0.001 -50% 5,186,589 $2,363,348 SPX Spenda Limited 0.001 -33% 3,153 $1,858,351 ZIP ZIP Co Ltd.. 1.420 -31% 67,280,329 $2,579,058,130 BGE Bridgesaaslimited 0.005 -29% 2,878,431 $1,399,014 LU7 Lithium Universe Ltd 0.003 -29% 11,014,095 $6,610,386 AKN Auking Mining Ltd 0.010 -23% 19,575,840 $31,463,361 RB6 Rubixresources 0.100 -20% 44,251 $7,681,250 AXP AXP Energy Ltd 0.004 -20% 15,000 $2,248,668 FME Future Metals NL 0.008 -20% 2,539,387 $12,130,437 MDI Middle Island Res 0.008 -20% 1,502,433 $9,933,218 TON Triton Min Ltd 0.004 -20% 13,712,870 $7,841,944 YAR Yari Resources 0.002 -20% 466,036 $3,689,110 VR8 Vanadium Resources 0.031 -18% 6,935,716 $26,636,735 INF Infinity Metals Ltd 0.005 -17% 1,534,915 $4,244,784 UNT Unith Ltd 0.005 -17% 4,788,812 $11,073,062 BOA BOA Resources Ltd 0.105 -16% 1,308,489 $55,755,854 BRE Brazilian Rare Earth 1.655 -16% 1,695,447 $542,642,052 SRL Sunrise 12.430 -15% 508,159 $2,531,887,605 ANX Anax Metals Ltd 0.028 -15% 1,629,104 $57,538,315 BSA BSA Limited 0.200 -15% 178,184 $18,870,561 FTI Fortifai Ltd 0.295 -14% 1,033,910 $119,529,231 ADR Adherium Ltd 0.060 -14% 228,410 $3,842,137 DUB Dubber Corp Ltd 0.006 -14% 5,134,083 $18,985,288

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Aurora Labs (ASX:A3D) has secured its first US order, worth US$42,000 for three turbojet engines and integration services.

Pacific Lime and Cement (ASX:PLA) has completed strategic planning for a proposed PNG industrial precinct anchored by lime and cement projects.

QMines (ASX:QML) has sold its drilling subsidiary for $1.4 million, freeing resources for Mt Chalmers copper-gold exploration and development.

West Cobar Metals (ASX:WC1) has launched maiden scandium drilling at Salazar, targeting higher-grade zones and potential resource extensions across approximately 3000m.

LAST ORDERS

Challenger Gold (ASX:CEL) has raised US$15 million before costs through the first tranche of unsecured convertible debentures to advance its Hualilan gold development and support working capital.

The company has secured agreements for US$30.3 million in total, with proceeds earmarked for equipment deposits, engineering and project preparation. Challenger plans to seek shareholder approval for the second tranche at a meeting targeted for late November.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While the companies listed in In Case You Missed It and Last Orders are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article. 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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