To The Moon

As of the close on Friday, $S&P/ASX 200(XJO.AU)$ closed at 7,104.10 points, down 0.15% in the past 5 days.

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During the last 5 trading days, $Altium(ALU.AU)$ , $Pilbara Minerals Ltd(PLS.AU)$ , $Allkem Limited(AKE.AU)$ , $PALADIN ENERGY LTD(PDN.AU)$ , $NIB Holdings(NHF.AU)$ are the top 5 Weekly gainers, up 18.51%, 16.39%, 12.72%, 11.27%, and 10.45% respectively.

$TPG TELECOM LTD(TPG.AU)$ , $Brainchip Holdings(BRN.AU)$ , $Coles Group(COL.AU)$ , $Reliance Worldwide(RWC.AU)$ , $Endeavour Group Ltd(EDV.AU)$ are top 5 decliners of ASX stocks which market capital above AU$2 Bln.

Below are YTD performances and key analyses of the TOP 5 gainers:

1. $Altium(ALU.AU)$ - Impressive Earnings From A Tech Company

Altium Limited develops and sells computer software for the design of electronic products.

On August 22, Altium has released its impressive full year results.

It drew attention as most of tech companies released bad performance under the economic headwinds.

The company has smashed its guidance and market estimates.

• Revenue up 23% year over year to US$220.8 million (> guidance of US$213 million to US$217 million)
• Net profit after tax up 57% to US$55.5 million (> expectations of US$47.7 million)
• Outlook: Revenue of US$255 million to US$265 million in FY 2023(15% to 20% growth)

Analysts described it as a “cracking result” and were quick to highlight that this stellar performance wasn’t boosted by one-offs.

In addition, company increased its dividends by 18%. The management declares its full year dividend will increase to 47 Australian cents per share.

In light of this strong performance and outlook,analyst has maintained its buy rating.

Accroding to the data fromWSJ:

Analysts average target price for $Altium(ALU.AU)$ is AUD 34.07.

$Altium(ALU.AU)$ YTDperformance in 2022 is -17.51%.

2. $Pilbara Minerals Ltd(PLS.AU)$ -- Maiden Profit Draws Market Attention

Pilbara Minerals is the pure-play lithium company, owning 100% of the world's largest, independent hard-rock lithium operation.

Lithium companies always dominate the weekly winners list recently.

The Pilbara Minerals reported a massive 577% increase in sales revenue to $1.2 billion and a maiden full year profit of $562 million.

• Revenue up 577% year-over-year (YoY) to $1.2 billion
• EBITDA of $814.5 million, up from $21.4 million in FY21
• Statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) of $561.8 million, up from a loss of $51.4 million loss in FY21

The company’s stellar earnings is also closely connected to higher lithium prices and rising global demand for lithium raw materials.

In addition, Broker Macquarie upgraded Pilbara Minerals’s rating andincreased its price target to $5.60, which also pushed the stock price up.

Accroding to the data fromWSJ:

Analysts average target pricefor $Pilbara Minerals Ltd(PLS.AU)$ is AUD 3.66.

$Pilbara Minerals Ltd(PLS.AU)$ YTD performance in 2022 is 0.85%.

3. $Allkem Limited(AKE.AU)$ - Merger & Lithium Prices Together Deliver A Stellar Earnings

Allkem is a global lithium chemicals company.

• Group revenue up 9xyear on year to US$770 million
• Gross income up 13xto US$605 million
• NPAT up 4x to US$337 million

It should be noted that Allkem results include the former Galaxy assets for the 10-month period post-merger date.

The increase of revenue and income comes both from its merger and the surging lithium prices.

However, the management downgraded the production guidance of Mt Cattlin for FY 2023 from the range of 160,000 to 170,000 tonnes to 140,000 to 150,000 tonnes. It is a result of on-going labour shortages in Western Australia.

In regarding to company’s future deveopment, the company said that,

With two revenue-generating operations being supplemented by new operations in FY23 and a strong balance sheet, we are fully funded to complete construction at Sal de Vida and the development of James Bay.

Accroding to the data from WSJ:

Analysts' average target price for $Allkem Limited(AKE.AU)$ is AUD15.83.

$Allkem Limited(AKE.AU)$ YTD performancein 2022 is 24.2%.

4.$PALADIN ENERGY LTD(PDN.AU)$ -Jumped On News of More Nuclear Reactors

Paladin Energy Limited is a significant uranium miner and exploration company.

Its share prices jump on two pieces of news:

1. According to Bloomberg, Japan’s government hopes to restart seven more nuclear reactors atop the 10 currently online.
2. The IEA forecasts the world will need to double nuclear capacity to reach net zero by 2050

Except for $PALADIN ENERGY LTD(PDN.AU)$ , most uranium sharessurged on the news.

Japan heavily depends on gas, oil, and coal imports for its energy needs.

As global energy prices nudge higher, Japan needs to transform its heavy dependence on oil imports and decides to ramp the nuclear electricity production.

In addition to Japan, IEA also said that global nuclear capacity will need to double by 2050 to meet the IEA’s net zero scenario.

The incoming high demand for uranium certainly will push the stock higher. But we should be cautious of the one-off news cause there aren’t substantial orders onuranium or this company.

Accroding to the data from WSJ:

Analysts' average target price for $PALADIN ENERGY LTD(PDN.AU)$ is AUD 0.75.

$PALADIN ENERGY LTD(PDN.AU)$ YTD performance: -16.4%.

5. $NIB Holdings(NHF.AU)$ - Good Earnings But Profit Declined? 

$NIB Holdings(NHF.AU)$  provides health and medical insurance to over one million Australians, as well as international expats working and travelling overseas.

It surged after the earnings as revenue gained year on year but net profit took a hit mainly because its investments failed.

NIB’s profit fell 16% to $135.7 million because its investmentlost$30 million loss. Butthe managments said thatas interest rates rose, July investment income rebounded to $14 million.

UBS analyst Scott Russell said,

Whilst reported earnings per share is below consensus due to adverse investment experience, underlying operating profit 11 per cent ahead of consensus is a strong beat.

Accroding to the data from marketscreener:Analysts' average target price for $NIB Holdings(NHF.AU)$ is AUD 7.51.

$NIB Holdings(NHF.AU)$ YTD performance was 13.04%.

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