Bell Potter trying to escape stockbroking ‘boom and bust' cycle
The company was founded by stockbroker Colin Bell in 1970 and was listed on the ASX in 2007. It is best known for Bell Potter, which has grown from broking into corporate advisory and other services.
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West Australian
a day ago
- West Australian
ASX Runners of the Week: Yandal, Imagion, Falcon & Bayan
One thing is certain in markets: There are no certainties. Following last week's forecast by the banks of an impending interest rate cut, the Reserve Bank said 'stuff you' to the forecasts and struggling mortgage holders by keeping rates on hold. Meanwhile, across the Pacific, United States President Donald Trump was back to his old tariff tricks, most notably dropping a 50 per cent tariff on copper imports. The double-down tariff placed the red metal on a run to more than US$5.50 per pound for US-based futures and continued its July 'metal of the month' momentum. Not to be outdone, the US Defence Department dropped a bombshell on Friday, stepping further into the rare earths game with a bold move to prop up the country's world-class Mountain Pass mine in California. It pulled in a staggering US$110 a kilogram floor price for neodymium-praseodymium rare earth oxides - double China's going rate - and accompanying billions in funding for magnet metals production lines. MP Material's Mountain Pass mine is the only light rare earths producer in the US and is now cutting ties with China's Shenghe Resources, signalling a tectonic shift toward a bifurcated market that could supercharge Western rare earths operations. Aussie critical minerals and rare earths heavyweights Lynas Rare Earths and Iluka Resources rode the wave, each surging about 20 per cent on the back of the Mountain Pass news and Trump's executive orders. Though not everyone was popping champagne this week. Burgeoning biotech producer Botanix Pharmaceuticals took a brutal hit, with its share price tanking as much as 56 per cent after its new excessive sweating drug, Sofdra, posted underwhelming US sales figures. The drug's early performance did little to dry the foreheads of some panicked shareholders, who were no doubt expecting it to conquer the market in six months flat. Oh well, one investor's panic sell can be another's bargain buy. This week's Bulls N' Bears Runners list is a mixed bag, featuring a scrappy biotech battler showing signs of a comeback, alongside the usual trio of junior explorers and nearology plays getting a boost from Trump's Truth Social hype machine. Buckle up - it's never dull on the ASX. YANDAL RESOURCES LTD (ASX: YRL) Up 147% (8.5c – 21c) This week's Bulls N' Bears' runner of the week is Western Australian explorer Yandal Resources, which struck gold on Thursday with some scintillating early assay results from its Arrakis prospect within its Caladan project in the prolific Yandal greenstone belt. The company unveiled assays from the first 16 air core (AC) holes of a 12,500-metre drilling blitz across a monstrous 6.4-kilometre Caladan target, revealing a cracking 800m-long mineralised structure at Arrakis. It looks to be just the tip of the iceberg. The scale and grade of the hits are not earth-shattering, but implications of scale emerging at Arrakis suggest the initial 800m of results could extend for a potential 3km strike. That would be nearly as long as the Kalgoorlie Super Pit. Standout hits include an 11m intercept at 2.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 90m and 12m at 1.1g/t from 45m. Hosted in a northwest-striking shear zone, the mineralisation shows very consistent grade and geology across three 400m-spaced holes, pointing to a single, continuous system within the 3km-long regolith anomaly. The juicy upside of Yandal's discovery catapulted the company's share price into action on Thursday. When the market had digested what the discovery could mean, its shares really started flying off the shelves, with the price rising to a high of 21 cents on Friday. This was up a very handy 147 per cent on last Friday's price as punters scrambled to stake a claim in this gold-chasing dynamo. The company's Caladan target area, including Arrakis, forms part of Yandal's broader Ironstone Well-Barwidgee gold project, strategically nestled 60km south of Northern Star's former flagship Jundee mining complex. Northern Star has dominated the northern Yandal greenstones for the past 10 years, along the way gobbling up every major deposit uncovered in the area. In 2019, Northern Star acquired Echo Resources in an all-cash takeover valued at $242.6 million for its Julius and Orelia deposits. Australia's biggest gold miner then scooped up the Milrose deposit to the north from Strickland Metals in 2023. Even if the gold at the historic plus 10-million-ounce Jundee mine is drying up, there is no shortage of neighbours in the region for Australia's big goldie to gobble up. With 10,200m of the 125-hole program already drilled and 84 more holes at the lab, Yandal is set to wrap up drilling in two weeks. With a robust $7 million cash pile and 470,200 ounces of gold resources outside of Arrakis, Yandal's potential to be the next belt-busting gold system in the region could see this junior become the next target in the crosshairs of Australia's biggest goldie. IMAGION BIOSYSTEMS LTD (ASX: IBX) Up 118% (1.1c – 2.4c) Snagging second place this week is cancer imaging company Imagion Biosystems, which rallied on positive US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) feedback for its planned phase two breast cancer trial for its hyper-accurate imaging technology. The technology can detect an often aggressive type of breast cancer, HER2-positive breast cancer, involving a protein that promotes the growth of cancer cells. The FDA's constructive input into the study plan, with an in-person meeting set for next week, and an 'investigational new drug' submission slated for this quarter are serious advances for Imagion's MagSense HER2 imaging agent. Imagion's non-invasive technology uses nanoparticles to detect and attach to cancerous lymph nodes in HER2-positive breast cancer tissue to deliver incredibly precise images. The company's phase one trial was completed in December 2023 and confirmed its safety across 13 patients. The recent phase two study was designed to refine dosing and imaging protocols. Imagion hasn't travelled a smooth road and while the latest news is positive, it might not have left historic holders jumping for joy. Imagion's phase one trial, launched in December 2020, struggled to recruit patients and took a gruelling 2.5 years to enrol 13 participants by June 2023. The results were delivered five months later. The company's share price fell from a high of about$7 per share at the start of phase one trial start to below 10c when the CEO resigned a month after the trial end. The company's share price is now labouring at 1.5c per share, a little over a year later. That's a brutal 99.998 per cent barbecue or 'negative 450 bagger' that might better be coined a shareholder bonfire. But with signs of life on the horizon, punters piled in on Thursday. The company's share price shot to an intraday high of 2.4c per share, up 118 per cent on last week's close of 1.1c per share. Notably, more than $6.2 million in stock was traded on the day, a monstrous 280 million shares exchanged - more than the company's entire 200 million shares on issue - reflecting some cautious optimism for this embattled biotech and potentially delivering an entirely new-look share register. If Imagion navigates the regulatory gauntlet and delivers on its cancer-detection promise, this rally could mark a tentative step towards redemption. With a massive shareholder flush of 280 million shares traded on Thursday, the new-look registry will have a much more rose-tinted view on the perennial underperformer's outlook. FALCON METALS LTD (ASX: FAL) Up 117% (18.5c – 40.25c) Victorian goldie Falcon Metals made a late Friday charge to take out the final spot on Bulls N' Bears podium this week. The company's share price shot more than 100 per cent higher on Friday after unveiling its highest-grade gold intercept to date at its Blue Moon prospect within the Pyramid Hill project in Victoria. The company revealed a spectacular 1.2m hit grading a whopping 543g/t gold from 294.1m downhole. The standout result, which includes a 0.4m subinterval at a ridiculous 1562g/t gold – three pounds and seven ounces - was delivered by a newly drilled wedge hole collared off the company's original discovery hole that returned 12.2m at 8.4g/t from 293.8m. Falcon says the bonanza-grade mineralisation sits within a quartz-sulphide vein and was targeted to confirm the geometry of a potential high-grade shoot. The results will be fed into future resource modelling and exploration planning. Falcon managing director Tim Markwell described the intercept as 'outstanding' and said the company is now planning further wedge holes to better define the shoot, which is interpreted to plunge steeply to the southeast. That sounds like sounds like a decent plan. Blue Moon sits in the northern section of Falcon's Pyramid Hill tenure, squarely within the revered Bendigo Zone. The region is credited with historical gold production of more than 60 million ounces, yet is still considered largely underexplored at depth. With its latest hit ranking among the highest-grade results seen in Australian gold exploration this year, Falcon is firmly back on the radar of market watchers hoping the Blue Moon could shine even brighter. Now who sang that? BAYAN MINING AND MINERALS LTD (ASX: BMM) Up 100% (3.5c – 7c) Bulls N' Bears' final bell this week was clinched by Bayan Mining and Minerals, which took off like a rocket on Monday after it scooped up the Desert Star rare earths project in California's Mojave Desert. The hotly contested jurisdiction has been the home of multiple Runners favourites this year, following Trump's executive orders to secure rare earths supply from the country's only rare earths producing region. Bayan's project is 4.5km from the world-class Mountain Pass mine and 4.7km from Dateline Resources' Colosseum project – Trump's favourite to become the country's second rare earths mine, despite being a gold project. The company says Desert Star's potassic alkaline intrusive echo Mountain Pass' geology, with radiometric data flashing elevated pathfinder elements such as potassium, thorium and uranium signatures across its ground. Bayan will now launch into desktop reviews and field reconnaissance with rock chip sampling within weeks to zero in on drill targets in this mineral-rich gold and rare earths corridor. The company traded a whopping $2.9 million in paper on announcement, shooting up 100 per cent to a dazzling peak of 7c on Monday. The excitement didn't fade, as shares took another run on Friday, fuelled by news from the US Defence Department's $400 million investment in Mountain Pass, including the $110/kg neodymium-praseodymium oxide price floor to bolster domestic supply chains. This geopolitical tailwind, aimed at countering China's rare earths dominance, supercharged Desert Star's strategic value, placing Bayan at the heart of a critical minerals renaissance just as global demand surges. Bayan also locked in a modest $250,000 placement at 4c per share to accompany the acquisition - a 14.3 per cent premium to its 3.5c close price last week. With the US flexing its muscle in the rare earths race and Bayan's claims primed for discovery, this 100 per cent surge could be the opening blast of a mineral motherlode for shareholders in a Tier-1 jurisdiction well and truly under the market microscope for US handouts and funding. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
Closing Bell: ASX misfires but Bitcoin takes off, hitting new highs
ASX closes trade down 0.11pc Resources only sector on the up, adding 1.82pc Bitcoin smashes new all-time high twice in 24 hours ASX gives up the ghost in the last hour Despite a valiant struggle back into positive territory by about 2pm AEST, the ASX ran out of steam, falling 0.11% by the end of the day. The materials sector (+1.82%) lost all support as energy flipped into negative territory, remaining the only silver lining in an otherwise pretty dismal day of trading. There were no points of interest to be found in the indices either – the ASX 200 Resources added 1.59%, but it was all on its lonesome in that regard. A combination of a US$400m direct investment in US-based rare earth miner MP Minerals from the Pentagon and threats to impose a 35% tariff on Canadian goods drove rare earth and battery metal stocks higher. Iluka (ASX:ILU) and Lynas (ASX:LYC) stayed the course, adding 22% and 16% respectively. Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX:BRE) also held onto most of its gains, adding 4% while Arafura Rare Earths (ASX:ARU) lifted 8%. They were joined by Meteoric Resources (ASX:MEI) which added 12%, Iperionx (ASX:IPX) up 15%, Ioneer (ASX:INR) 5% and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) gaining 7.7%. Bitcoin breaks through to new highs Bitcoin has been simmering along in the background ever since Trump took office and the GENIUS act was put before US lawmakers, quietly gaining steam as a flurry of central banks engage in stablecoin and tokenisation experiments. As Rob Badman wrote earlier today, 'Bitcoin's also having a sky-high, market-cap-bolstering moment. It's been extraordinarily resilient of late, pretty much maintaining above a US$2 trillion market cap for the past two months.' At about 3 pm AEST today, the fan favourite cryptocurrency broke through to a new high again, rocketing all the way up to US$118,239.2 per bitcoin. "Bitcoin's new all-time high is being driven by relentless institutional accumulation – major players are scooping up supply and drying up liquidity on exchanges," Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association, told Reuters. Bitcoin's breakthrough moment comes right before Crypto Week – starting July 14, US lawmakers will be debating a slew of bills that will redefine America's cryptocurrency framework, the GENIUS act among them. In the meantime, stablecoin issuers and crypto trading platforms alike are reaping the rewards. Circle (NYSE:CRCL) was up 1% overnight, while Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) jumped 4.4% and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) lifted 4% in trade before surging another 7.7% afterhours. ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS Today's best performing small cap stocks: Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap TD1 Tali Digital Limited 0.002 100% 5543076 $4,095,156 FAL Falconmetalsltd 0.37 95% 8465053 $33,630,000 ATH Alterity Therap Ltd 0.015 67% 91442987 $82,146,336 CMB Cambium Bio Limited 0.3 40% 105206 $3,930,773 RMI Resource Mining Corp 0.019 36% 2284175 $10,282,347 AOA Ausmon Resorces 0.002 33% 564100 $1,966,820 RNX Renegade Exploration 0.004 33% 380012 $3,865,090 CMG Criticalmineralgrp 0.13 31% 75986 $8,963,892 GLA Gladiator Resources 0.009 29% 1006500 $5,308,078 NPM Newpeak Metals 0.027 29% 18461697 $6,763,506 BCA Black Canyon Limited 0.225 25% 1265719 $23,337,125 LKY Locksleyresources 0.085 25% 49159594 $12,466,666 FHS Freehill Mining Ltd. 0.005 25% 1750040 $13,655,414 MEL Metgasco Ltd 0.0025 25% 616451 $3,665,173 TON Triton Min Ltd 0.005 25% 249329 $6,273,555 HIQ Hitiq Limited 0.016 23% 1804743 $5,976,073 JGH Jade Gas Holdings 0.032 23% 818972 $43,857,688 MGU Magnum Mining & Exp 0.008 23% 5645972 $15,067,241 NSB Neuroscientific 0.16 23% 1341795 $43,234,842 OZM Ozaurum Resources 0.08 21% 2082477 $15,120,724 WR1 Winsome Resources 0.23 21% 2608917 $46,339,756 PH2 Pure Hydrogen Corp 0.099 21% 2965887 $30,625,427 GBZ GBM Rsources Ltd 0.018 20% 29618855 $21,237,917 BMM Bayanminingandmin 0.06 20% 9761188 $5,147,770 1AI Algorae Pharma 0.006 20% 83299 $8,436,974 Making news... TALi Digital (ASX:TD1) has added just over $131k to the coffers in an entitlement offer at 0.1 cents a share for a total cap raise of $931k after also closing out a share placement. In June TD1 acquired the 'You Can Do It!' program, a social-emotional learning program aimed at improving the social, emotional, and academic outcomes of young people. Management reckons it's a strategic fit with Tali's existing ReadyAttentionGo! Platform, which is targeted at improving early childhood cognitive attention and engagement outcomes. A startlingly high-grade gold hit of 1.2m at 543 g/t has brought Falcon Metals (ASX:FAL) sharply into the spotlight, as the company drills the first wedge hole at the Blue Moon prospect. FAL was topping ASX charts last week on claims they'd found Bendigo-style gold mineralisation after hitting 0.3m at 48.7 g/t gold at Blue Moon. These latest results certainly support that assertion – the Bendigo Goldfield has produced 22 million ounces of gold since it was first discovered in 1851, a bounty Falcon is keen to tap into. Eye and tissue repair biotech Cambium Bio (ASX:CMB) has begun dosing patients in a Phase 3 trial for its Elate Ocula dry eye disease therapy. Management says it's an important milestone in the journey to commercialisation, as CMB enters the final stages of developing the therapy in a clinical setting. Concussion management technology company HitIQ (ASX:HIQ) has expanded into the UK market, launching its PROTEQT system for rugby players and similar 'collision sports' like hockey. HIQ is running a dual business model with both upfront product sales and an ongoing subscription; players receive a new instrumented mouthguard each year that includes the latest innovations. ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS Today's worst performing small cap stocks: Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap ICU Investor Centre Ltd 0.001 -67% 752314 $913,534 HLX Helix Resources 0.001 -50% 4012451 $6,728,387 BMG BMG Resources Ltd 0.0065 -35% 20353249 $8,443,972 AXP AXP Energy Ltd 0.001 -33% 24501766 $10,027,021 OB1 Orbminco Limited 0.001 -33% 5815000 $5,103,852 PIL Peppermint Inv Ltd 0.002 -33% 200000 $6,903,269 TMK TMK Energy Limited 0.002 -33% 10000000 $30,667,149 AQX Alice Queen Ltd 0.003 -25% 88750 $4,998,560 BLZ Blaze Minerals Ltd 0.003 -25% 1626948 $7,113,856 CRR Critical Resources 0.003 -25% 501305 $11,080,342 PRS Prospech Limited 0.018 -22% 4389689 $8,712,995 IBX Imagion Biosys Ltd 0.015 -21% 18458755 $3,825,487 1AD Adalta Limited 0.002 -20% 4010 $2,678,291 AMS Atomos 0.004 -20% 41442 $6,075,092 ERL Empire Resources 0.004 -20% 1636 $7,419,566 LCY Legacy Iron Ore 0.008 -20% 173725 $97,620,426 MRD Mount Ridley Mines 0.002 -20% 1473 $1,946,223 RCM Rapid Critical 0.002 -20% 8450000 $3,539,445 SBR Sabre Resources 0.008 -20% 442783 $3,944,619 VEN Vintage Energy 0.004 -20% 1280785 $10,434,568 CDE Codeifai Limited 0.023 -18% 29129279 $13,131,683 UCM Uscom Limited 0.014 -18% 25000 $4,422,501 TX3DA Trinex Minerals Ltd 0.1 -17% 62368 $2,090,695 IPB IPB Petroleum Ltd 0.005 -17% 1288198 $4,238,418 SER Strategic Energy 0.005 -17% 1124100 $4,026,200 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Gold success story Ora Banda (ASX:OBM) is on track to lift production 60% in FY26 to as much as 155,000oz pa.
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
Scott Power: ASX health falls as Trump revives pharma import tariff threat; CSL ‘undervalued'
ASX health stocks fall o.92% over past five days as US President Donald Trump renews tariff threat on pharmaceutical imports Morgans believes ASX's biggest biotech CSL is currently trading at levels significantly below fair value Cochlear hears good news with US FDA approval for its next-gen Nucleus Nexa implants and two sound processors Big news for the week affecting the ASX healthcare sector was US President Donald Trump threatening again to impose tariffs on drugs imported into the US, this time up to 200%. "We're going to give people about a year, a year and a half to come in and, after that, they're going to be tariffed," Trump said. "If they … bring the pharmaceuticals into the country … they're going to be tariffed at a very, very high rate, like 200%." Trump previously targeted the pharmaceutical industry, warning in April that "major" tariffs were on the way, and stating in February that he planned to impose levies of '25% or higher' on drug imports. "Trump has argued tariffs on pharmaceuticals would force companies to move their manufacturing operations to the US, with companies like Eli Lilly (LLY), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and AbbVie (ABBV) already falling in line and announcing plans to beef-up their US footprints," Morgans' analyst Dr Derek Jellinek wrote in a note to clients. "The treat of tariffs, along with risk of drug-pricing reform under the Most Favoured Nation executive order and policy changes under Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, has negatively impacted investor sentiment across the global healthcare sector. "While we do not believe this overhang is likely to abate over the near term and certainly poses a tricky situation for pharma companies, given the significant volumes of drugs, both generic (~80%) and branded (>50%), that are produced outside of the US, we believe any direct impacts would depend on the specifics of trade policy and tariffs enacted (if any)." ASX health stocks fall over past week The S&P/ASX 200 Health Care index (ASX:XHJ) fell 0.92% for the past five days, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) was down 0.15% for the same period. But let's focus on a positive. At least Telix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:TLX) rose 6% on Wednesday after securing a permanent healthcare system code from the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for its PSMA PET imaging agent Gozellix. "Essentially, there's been a lot of news which have moved individual stock prices around quite significantly this week and there lies the opportunity for investors," Power said, noting that Imricor Medical Systems (ASX:IMR) looked like one to keep an opportunistic eye on, having pulled back almost 20% this week. Power's Powerplay: ASX's biggest biotech CSL 'undervalued' Morgans believes the ASX's biggest biotech CSL (ASX:CSL) is currently trading at levels significantly below fair value, pricing it as less than a single-division company, with the main Behring division alone justifying a higher valuation and no value assigned to either Seqirus or Vifor. In a note to client Jellinek wrote that Morgans "view CSL as materially undervalued" and over the past decade the company had averaged an EV/EBIT multiple of 24.7 times but today it sits at 18.2 times. Jellinek said strong demand and cost-cutting measures were helping margins recover for CSL Behring, which focuses on rare and serious diseases like bleeding and immune disorders and made up more than 70% of earnings. He said CSL's flu vaccines business Seqirus faced short-term uncertainty around vaccine uptake and the impact of vaccine skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr's position as Health secretary, but demand was still supported by pandemic contracts. Growth in CSL's iron deficiency and kidney care business Vifor, while slower than expected was also showing signs of improvement. "Combined, we estimate an intrinsic value of $196 bn, representing c35% upside from current trading levels," Jellinek wrote. Morgans has lowered its FY25-27 underlying earnings estimates on CSL by up to 4.1% mainly on lower sales and margin assumptions in Seqirus and Vifor divisions. The broker's FY25 constant currency NPATA forecast of US$3.24bn sits within CSL's guidance range of US$3.2–3.3bn, which implies 10-13% year-on-year growth. "While Behring continues to do the heavy lifting, ongoing cost right-sizing and unmet demand across all divisions gives us confidence in a double-digit earnings growth trajectory over the medium term," Jellinek wrote. Morgans maintains a buy rating on CSL but has reduced its 12-month target price to $303.70 from $329.26. Cochlear hears of approval from FDA Cochlear (ASX:COH) this week announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved its next-generation Nucleus Nexa implants – "the world's first and only smart cochlear implant system" – as well as its Nucleus Kanso and Kanso 3 Nexa sound processors. US approval was widely anticipated after the next generation of its Cochlear implants were launched last month in Europe and the Asia Pacific region following regulatory approval. In June, Cochlear further downgraded FY25 guidance to low double digits on slower services sales growth, along with slowing Cochlear implant developed market growth and "small loss" of share "in a few countries". The company has flagged ongoing work to identify and connect with recipients who could benefit from the latest sound processing tech and the introduction of Kanso 3 Sound Processors as key drivers of a lift in services revenue in FY26. While consensus targets FY26 services revenue up 8% to $646 million, in a note to client Jellinek was less optimistic at 3% to $616m, given the Kanso 3 Sound Processors were launching outside the typical three-to-five-year reimbursement cycle for upgrades. He wrote they also appear to be an over-the-ear equivalent of the behind-the-ear Nucleus 8 sound processor, launched in December 2022, a more commonly used option, so may be construed as being about convenience rather than medical necessity from a reimbursement point of view. "And while the Cochlear Nucleus Nexa System introduces several enhancements, it is based on the existing Nucleus 8 platform, with improvements appearing incremental and more about refining the user experience, as opposed to technological advancements in hearing capabilities that Nucleus 8 introduced over the Nucleus 7, potentially limiting gains compared to prior launches," he wrote. "Taken together, we remain cautious, targeting FY26 NPAT $436m (+10%; cons $457m, +15%), which appears more than reflected in the current multiple (45x FY26)." Morgans has a hold rating on Cochlear and 12-month target price of $281.36. Neurizon closer to lifting FDA clinical hold on ALS drug Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX:NUZ) is progressing plans to lift a US FDA clinical hold on lead drug NUZ-001 and continue towards the start of its potentially pivotal phase 2/3 trial in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) through the HEALEY platform trial in the US. The FDA has provided written feedback to NUZ accepting its strategy of conducting two preclinical pharmacokinetic (PK) studies to lift the clinical hold on NUZ-001. Based on the FDA's initial clinical hold, NUZ proactively went ahead and initiated two PK studies in an effort to expedite addressing the FDA's concerns about a gap in information around systemic exposure. "Pleasingly, NUZ were on the money and have completed these studies ahead of schedule, with the treatment phase and blood sample analysis now finished, and study reports being finalised," Morgans' analyst Iain Wilkie wrote in a note to clients. Neurizon will submit its complete response with the new data attached to the FDA in the coming weeks, requesting the lifting of the clinical hold, enabling the company to enter the HEALEY trial, a significant ongoing trial in the US aimed at accelerating ALS treatment development. "A clear positive development here and pending final analysis, submission, and acceptance to lift the clinical hold and open the IND – NUZ expects to commence enrolling participants in the long awaited phase 2/3 trial by the end of the year, all of which we view as major catalysts to re-rate the stock," Wilkie wrote. "We view NUZ as a strong proposition in the rare disease space with significant near-term catalysts in a condensed timeframe and precedent for an accelerated approval pathway. "While considerable clinical risk remains, we view NUZ-001 as a drug with a sound scientific basis in ALS, strong safety profile, and promising hint of potential efficacy above existing treatments." Morgans has a speculative buy rating on Neurizon and risk-adjusted 12-month target price of 42 cents per share. Mach7 provides FY25 guidance update as new CEO takes reins Often referred to as a mini version of ProMedicus (ASX:PME) health imaging stock Mach7 Technologies (ASX:M7T) provided an update on its expected FY25 results based on preliminary unaudited management accounts. Revenue is expected to be $33-$34m, sitting at the bottom end of prior guidance range of 15-25% growth ($33-$36m), while Morgans estimate for FY25 was $34.7m. Management expects recurring revenue – subscription revenue and maintenance and support revenue – to be 20% higher. Contracted Annual Recurring Revenue (CARR)is expected to be ~$30m-$31m, slightly below the FY25 guidance of 15-25% growth ($32m-$35m). Operating expenditure growth will be less than revenue growth, consistent with FY25 guidance. Mach7 expects to have closed FY25 with $21m-23m with no debt. The company's new CEO Teri Thomas officially started on July 1 and will update investors on July 29. Thomas headed former ASX-listed breast imaging company Volpara Technologies, before it was taken over by South Korean provider of AI-powered solutions for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics last year. In a note to client Wilkie said the CARR miss shouldn't surprise the market too much considering no major new contract wins since the Q3 update. "We were hopeful of a new contract or two prior to EOFY but like anything in this sector, timing on contracts are hard to predict and delays are common," he wrote. "The core business continues to perform steadily, yet it has been on the cusp of achieving profitability for several years without fully breaking through." "While there is significant potential for substantial progress, investors have only seen gradual improvements so far." Wilkie wrote it would be "interesting to see any changes to outlook or strategy going forward" following Thomas's appointment. Morgans maintains an add rating and 12-month target price of $1.37. The views, information, or opinions expressed in the interview in this article are solely those of the interviewee and do not represent the views of Stockhead. Stockhead has not provided, endorsed or otherwise assumed responsibility for any financial product advice contained in this article. At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Neurizon is a Stockhead advertiser, the company did not sponsor this article.
