Lunch Wrap: ASX in the green but Coles and Catalyst cop a hiding

• ASX was up this morning as retailers rebound
• Coles cops an 11% beating as sales disappoint
• Wall Street’s AI party turns into a hangover

The S&P/ASX 200 was charging 0.5% higher by lunchtime in Sydney.

And after yesterday’s retail massacre, bargain hunters were back rummaging through the wreckage.

Overnight, Wall Street had a shocker as Google parent Alphabet crashed more than 12%, vaporising over US$500 billion after disappointing earnings.

Back home this morning, the real action was in consumer discretionary, which jumped higher after four straight days of punishment.

Wesfarmers (ASX:WES), JB HiFi (ASX:JBH), Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL) and Nick Scali (ASX:NCK) all bounced after Thursday’s ugly trading updates.

But consumer staples were having a stinker, thanks to Coles Group (ASX:COL).

Coles plunged as much as 11% after warning first-half supermarket earnings would be flat, rather than growing as analysts expected.

Its supermarket sales rose just 3.6%, versus Woolworths (ASX:WOW)‘s 6.1%, while liquor sales fell 1.3%.

Coles blamed fierce discounting, stretched shoppers and rising fuel costs. It’s now rolling out more promotions to win customers back.

In other large cap news….

Dan Murphy’s owner Endeavour Group (ASX:EDV) managed to squeeze out a 2.8% lift in quarterly sales to $3.18 billion, although even Aussies are starting to think twice before stocking the beer fridge.

Over at Reece (ASX:REH), things were flowing rather nicely.

The plumbing giant shot up 7% after quarterly sales rose 4.3% to $2.51 billion.

Turns out there’s still plenty of money to be made selling taps and toilets, even when the rest of the economy looks a little constipated.

Sleep machine maker ResMed (ASX:RMD) was also having a good one, rising 3% after net income climbed 12% to US$418 million.

Demand for its sleep apnoea gear remains strong, while bigger share buybacks gave investors another reason to rest easy.

Meanwhile, Car Group (ASX:CAR) was busy telling investors that AI wasn’t about to steal its lunch money.

The carsales owner reckons its 52 million-plus monthly users, massive dealer network and two decades of pricing data give it a pretty decent moat.

Over in energy, Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) was laughing all the way to the bank after quarterly LNG revenue jumped 32% to $2.6 billion.

It wasn’t pumping out heaps more gas, mind you. It was simply getting paid more for what it sold.

Sometimes the easiest way to make more money is to charge more.

Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) meanwhile, has found itself a rather interesting customer.

QatarEnergy, from one of the world’s biggest gas-exporting nations, has signed up to buy as much as three million tonnes of LNG a year from Woodside’s Louisiana project for 20 years, starting in 2029.

Yep, Qatar buying American gas. That’s a little like a bakery shop popping over next door to buy a loaf of bread.

Over in mining, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) had a headache after seismic activity forced it to suspend underground operations at its giant Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.

Three workers were injured, while transport delays at the Chinese border added to the drama.

Not ideal when copper is supposed to be one of Rio’s big growth engines.

But Catalyst Metals (ASX:CYL) was the one getting absolutely taken to the cleaners.

Its shares crashed 22% after quarterly gold production tumbled 30% to 22,200 ounces, costs went through the roof and FY27 production guidance was chopped to 90,000–105,000 ounces.

To make matters worse, first production from two new mines has been pushed into FY28.

Catalyst still has $371 million sitting in cash and bullion, which is a pretty decent cushion.

And finally… Emerald Resources (ASX:EMR) also had a quarter it probably wouldn’t be framing for the meeting room wall.

Gold production fell 25% and costs jumped 48% as it processed lower-grade ore.

Still, Emerald stuck with its FY27 guidance and had $540.9 million in liquid assets.

ASX LEADERS

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

Security Description Last % Volume MktCap BTN Butn Limited 0.013 86% 42,000 $2,672,019 ATC Altech Batt Ltd 0.002 50% 2,087,588 $2,669,056 T3D 333D Limited 0.035 40% 50,000 $5,284,887 SRJ SRJ Technologies 0.005 25% 5,747,500 $6,892,874 IOV Ion Video Ltd 0.610 23% 109,380 $70,028,820 CUP Count Limited 1.635 22% 704,878 $290,124,223 LNQ Linqmineralslimited 0.545 18% 1,445,641 $42,473,900 SUH Southern Hem Min 0.034 17% 1,890,882 $21,350,961 MCA Murray Cod Aust Ltd 0.150 15% 175,929 $32,223,177 LVE Love Group Global 0.120 14% 209,860 $4,256,088 BOC Bougainville Copper 0.170 13% 118,139 $60,159,375 CYC Cyclopharm Limited 0.435 13% 66,686 $48,407,646 PET Phoslock Env Tec Ltd 0.009 13% 67,111 $4,995,124 RAD Radiopharm 0.005 13% 54,821 $18,843,531 TRI Trivarx Ltd 0.009 13% 4,790,097 $9,229,548 ITM Itech Minerals Ltd 0.037 12% 148,024 $7,883,218 FRB Firebird Metals 0.145 12% 148,000 $23,706,982 WRK Wrkr Ltd 0.088 11% 560,034 $171,539,483 DKM Duketon Mining 0.100 11% 1,847 $11,227,514 KTA Krakatoa Resources 0.005 11% 544,780 $9,055,175 WMG Western Mines 0.155 11% 30,800 $18,252,013 EXT Excite Technology 0.006 10% 55,889 $13,815,824 BOA BOA Resources Ltd 0.110 10% 347,603 $51,271,350 AGN Argenica 0.115 10% 173,128 $13,487,955 ODA Orcoda Limited 0.059 9% 106,461 $10,125,767

Count Limited (ASX:CUP) has snapped up a 30% stake in Brisbane accounting and financial advice firm Apiary, which generated $3.5 million in FY26 revenue.

It’s also kicked off FY27 with a bang, lifting quarterly revenue 23.2% to $52.1 million and underlying earnings 66.6% to $12.7 million, while funds under management hit a record $6.7 billion.

Butn (ASX:BTN) has extended its invoice financing partnership with MYOB until November 2027, keeping cashflow funding available to small businesses through the accounting platform.

Meanwhile, it’s weighing up seven non-binding offers for all or parts of the business, although nothing’s locked in yet, and is discussing changes to its financing facility with Northleaf.

ASX LAGGARDS

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

Description Last % Volume MktCap TOU Tlou Energy Ltd 0.001 -67% 15,296 $3,895,753 DXN DXN Limited 0.115 -57% 46,058,248 $99,847,813 OVT Ovanti Limited 0.001 -33% 6,250 $1,847,511 DAI Decidr Ai Industries 0.205 -28% 930,795 $101,149,204 HIQ Hitiq Limited 0.003 -25% 5,213,178 $4,635,734 OSX Osteopore Limited 0.003 -25% 160,587 $2,774,372 SP3 Specturltd 0.006 -25% 2,348,267 $3,327,382 X2M X2M Connect Limited 0.003 -25% 97,464,178 $10,378,192 CYL Catalyst Metals 4.070 -22% 4,194,022 $1,375,348,643 AAU Antilles Gold Ltd 0.006 -21% 775,559 $26,432,057 AD1 Adneo Limited 0.015 -21% 45,000 $7,910,422 M2M Mtmalcolmminesnl 0.004 -20% 1,675,000 $3,967,333 M2R Miramar 0.002 -20% 1,975 $6,592,468 SEQ Sequoia Fin Grp Ltd 0.047 -19% 473,292 $7,109,365 DTZ Dotz Nano Ltd 0.018 -18% 381,286 $17,273,216 MGT Magnetite Mines 0.009 -18% 3,151,352 $2,519,156 ELS Elsight Ltd 1.885 -18% 2,670,712 $519,878,163 I88 Infini Resources Ltd 0.115 -18% 573,552 $15,149,013 1AD Adalta Limited 0.003 -17% 3,995,624 $9,636,507 ADN Andromeda Metals Ltd 0.005 -17% 2,064,086 $30,851,042 GNM Great Northern 0.020 -17% 61,761 $11,852,123 TYX Tyranna Res Ltd 0.003 -17% 232 $11,748,449 APX Appen Limited 1.120 -16% 5,667,214 $360,486,598 EDE Eden Inv Ltd 0.057 -16% 883,168 $42,967,819 BNLDB Blue Star Helium Ltd 0.105 -16% 196,772 $15,382,389

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Northstone Resources (ASX:NRL) has confirmed gold-silver continuity at Barje ahead of a maiden JORC resource targeted for the December quarter.

NuEnergy Gas (ASX:NGY) has advanced Tanjung Enim’s early production facility to 48% completion, targeting first gas sales in Q1 2027.

Talonx Resources (ASX:TXR) has secured $775,000 in placement commitments to advance Kihabe copper exploration in Botswana and Viking gold drilling.

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

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