ASX reporting season: Mineral Resources, Wesfarmers, South32, IGO, Qantas report results today

Nvidia’s latest quarterly results have once again blew past Wall Street’s expectations as revenue for the company’s high-end artificial intelligence chips soared, the latest sign that AI infrastructure spending remains strong.

Nvidia said revenue more than doubled year-on-year to $US96.2 billion in its second fiscal quarter, which ended on July 26. Net profit surged 126 per cent to $US59.7b.

“AI has reached its inflection point. It’s doing useful work. Its tokens are productive and profitable. Now, compute is revenue,” CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement.

Along with higher profit and revenue, however, Nvidia’s operating expenses surged 55 per cent to $US8.41b.

Nvidia expects to grow its revenue in its fiscal year ending January 2028 by about 70 per cent, citing surging demand for its AI-powering chips.

Huang emphasised the supply limitations the company is grappling with.

“Our entire supply chain is challenged,” he told analysts. “At this point we have supply for 70 per cent ... Our demand is much higher than that.”

Nvidia’s data centre segment, which includes its AI data centres and factories business, as well as chip demand from hyperscalers such as Amazon, Meta and Google, reported revenue of $US89 billion, up more than twofold from a year earlier.

Nvidia and Amazon Web Services announced a plan to deploy two million additional Nvidia graphic processing units, and will incorporate Nvidia chips to power its fleet of warehouse robots.

Despite the stellar results and still-rosy outlook, many investors worry about a jarring comedown after a three-year boom that has seen Nvidia’s market value soar from $US400 billion at the end of 2022 to roughly $US5.2 trillion now.

The AI industry is also increasingly facing pushback amid objections to the expansion in data centres and fears that the speed with which AI is being adopted could lead to widespread job losses for many Americans.

Profits are booming for the owner of Chemist Warehouse since buying the pharmacy giant, backed by a boom in weight-loss drugs.

Sigma Healthcare, which rounded out its first financial year with Chemist Warehouse since completing the takeover in February 2025, grew its revenue by more than 15 per cent to $10.8 billion in the 12 months to June 30.

The growth was driven by new stores across its Australian and overseas networks and a 75 per cent sales surge in GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.

“GLP-1s have provided a structural tailwind, which we expect to continue,” chief executive Vikesh Ramsunder told an earnings briefing on Thursday.

And options for the drug are expected to continue to widen for customers.

“What’s interesting for me is when the oral dose will be registered in Australia - I truly believe that’s a real tailwind for the business,” Mr Ramsunder said.

“If the government puts it onto the PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme), which is obviously still being negotiated, and the oral dose comes into Australia, I think the market size starts to grow materially.”

Sigma posted a normalised net profit after tax of $732.3 million for 2025/26, up 23 per cent on the previous year, while reducing its debt to a still hefty $663m.

There are now almost 660 Chemist Warehouse stores globally, including 560 across Australia, 75 in New Zealand and 18 in Ireland, which grew sales by 45 per cent and turned a profit for the first time.

Including Sigma’s other brands like Amcal, DDS and Guardian, it owns and runs nearly 1000 pharmacies worldwide.

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Australian businesses pulled back on investment in the three months through June, with a decline in spending on data centers at the heart of that slowdown.

Companies invested almost $51 billion in the second quarter, down 3.6 per cent from the first three months of the year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. Spending on data centres and other information technology was down by almost a third from the record set in the first quarter.

However, from a year earlier, spending was up almost 11 per cent, driven by an almost 80 per cent jump in investment in data centers, underscoring the strength of the sector as a driver of activity in the Australian economy.

Investment intentions for the 2026-27 fiscal year climbed to $200.7b, up 15.5 per cent on the forecast three months earlier, also underpinned by AI and renewable energy projects.

“Investment in data centre construction and expansion projects continues to grow, rising for an eighth straight quarter,” according to the ABS’s Tom Lay, who heads business statistics.

The 2.1 per cent rise in investment into buildings was “driven by continued activity on data center construction to expand capacity, as well as commencement of new renewable energy projects this quarter,” he said.

Bloomberg

Australia’s biggest car dealership is off and racing, reporting a record first-half despite the twin economic storms of rising interest rates and cost-of-living pressures.

Eagers Automotive increased first-half revenue a whopping 24 per cent compared to the previous year to $8.1 billion, which delivered a statutory net profit of $243.1 million.

It declared a marginally improved interim dividend of 25c a share, up 1c from a year earlier.

CEO Keith Thornton said the results came despite a challenging backdrop, “characterised by an Australian market with obvious economic headwinds, a persistent, elevated interest rate environment and an industry that is undergoing historic transformation”.

“Despite these external headwinds, Eagers has delivered a result which again

demonstrates the resilience and quality of our underlying business, the operational

excellence that is foundational in the Eagers culture and the disciplined execution of our strategic plans over many years.”

The revenue result included a $1b contribution from the first two months of its CanadaOne Auto acqusition.

The Adelaide-based company holds a 17.9 per cent share of the new car market in Australia. It also counts the easyauto123 brand in its stable.

Oil and gas services company DUG Technology has swung back into the black as both margins and revenue improved in FY26.

And in a sign the good times are set to continue, the WA-based listed company - which operates super computers to process vast quantities of seismic data for energy companies - said it was entering FY27 “within an energised industry”.

DUG reported services and software revenue of $US63.8 million, which made up the lion’s share of its overall revenue of $US86.4m.

That was up 23 per cent from the previous year.

Normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew 78 pe rcent to $US27.4m. Normalised EBITDA margins rose from 25 to 32 pe rcent.

CEO Matt Lamont said FY26 was a record year for DUG.

“We returned to profit and generated $US20.9m of cash from operations,” he said.

“Earnings grew at twice the rate of revenue, which shows the operating leverage in this business.

“These results come from a long period of through-the-cycle investment rather than a single good year.

“The industry is busier than it has been in years. Oil prices are higher, exploration budgets are rising, and reserve life is falling across the majors. That means exploration in harder places, where imaging quality decides whether a prospect is drillable, which is precisely the problem we built our technology to solve.”

“We enter FY27 within an energised industry, with a large pipeline of opportunities. We’re excited for what lies ahead.”

But that level of excitement wasn’t shared by investors, who had marked the company’s shares down 16.5 per cent by 10.30am to $1.62.

Scandal-plagued auditing firm KPMG have been dumped by Macquarie Group after its board voted it would no longer recommend the organisation as its preferred auditor.

KPMG has been the centre of a parliamentary committee investigation into whistleblower allegations that its partners used confidential client data to win corporate audit contracts.

The auditing firm was accused of using inside information to win work from major companies such as Macquarie, then sought to conceal allegations raised by a whistleblower, instead of properly investigating them.

Macquarie announced it would no longer recommend KPMG at next year’s annual general meeting.

A spokesman said the decision followed continued scrutiny of KPMG Australia’s audit practice, including information exposed by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services.

“It also follows Macquarie’s formal inquiries of KPMG to consider its capacity to deliver the audit, as well as the nature and impact of ongoing issues at KPMG Australia,” a spokesman said.

“The boards currently hold concerns in respect of KPMG Australia and its audit practice in two of the key criteria considered in the audit tender completed in late 2025, namely capacity to deliver the audit given several key members of the proposed KPMG Australia audit team have departed; and culture, including a culture that transparently discloses issues.”

The company announced it would retain incumbent auditor PwC to deliver its global audit.

KPMG chief executive John Sams said they were disappointed by the outcome but respected the decision, saying it was a clear reminder that the consequences of our past failings are real.

Australian small businesses are being hit with a triple-edge blow of higher business costs increasing crime and competition from cheaper overseas rivals, a new report shows.

The report from Deloitte points to inflation driving up operating costs, but the cost of living crunch is also pushing more of the general public to steal.

The survey points to a trifecta of pressures on retail stores: inflation on their own costs, the prevention and consequential costs of more crime, and super cheap online stores.

Deloitte’s 2026 Retail Report polled 150 retail executives and 1000 consumers, specifically on their expectations for the end of year shopping period, and the coming 12 months.

The survey found 37 per cent of businesses have whittled down their inventories because theft, fraud, organised crime and aggressive customers are pushing up business costs.

Australian Retail Council chief executive Chris Rodwell said economy-wide inflation was pushing up crime, as increasing costs for each business owner doubly squeezed margins.

“Retail crime is distressing and harmful for retail workers, shop owners and the communities they serve. There’s no disguising it’s also now a significant cost of running a business,” Mr Rodwell said.

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Share sin Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources are up more than 4 per cent in early trade after the founder declared FY26 the strongest result in the company’s two-decade history.

Build off the back of the ramp up of its Onslow Iron operation and growth in its mining service division, revenue was up 44 pe rcent comapred to the previous financial year to a record $6.5 billion.

Reported net profit leapt 236 per cent to $1.2b, prompting the board to reinstate dividends, delcaring a final payout of 83c.

Its shares were at $69.65 at 8.45am, up 25.2 per cent for the year so far.

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Improved lithium prices have pushed IGO back into the black.

The Ivan Vella-led miner this morning reported net profit of $145 million for the 2025-26 financial year, a turnaround from the previous year’s near $1 billion loss amid the depths of the lithium price winter.

It said the return to profitability reflected IGO’s $207m share of net profit from its interest in Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia - a turnaround from its $642m share of the JV’s loss in FY25 - and stronger earnings from the Greenbushes hard rock lithium joint venture, in which it holds a 25 per cent stake.

The result came despite a fire on June 7 that crippling the mine’s new Chemical Grade Plant 3 just six months after it was completed at a cost of roughly $880m.

“At Greenbushes, while some operational challenges persisted during the year, the operation continued to deliver strong margins and cash generation,” Mr Vella said,

“Importantly, Greenbushes is well progressed with the full life-of-mine optimisation program focused on driving enhanced value.”

IGO’s near-depleted Nova nickel mine also exceeded guidance.

But its Kwinan lithium hydroxide refinery - in which it has a 49 per cent interest under the TLEA venture - continued to underpeform. Full-year production of 8839 tonnes was up on the previous year’s 6782t but below gudiance of between 9000t and 11,000t.

IGO last year wrote off the entire value of the project after it ran into countless technical troubles, making it clear that it wants to switch off the troubled plant.

IGO’s full-year revenue was down 12 per cent on the previous year to $462.9m.

The board declared a final dividend of 5c a share - its only payout for the year.

Higher prices for copper, zinc and silver have boosted “one of the best financial results” in South32’s history, says CEO Matt Daley.

The diversified miner this morning reported only a one per cent rise in revenue to $US5.8 billion from continuing operations.

Underlying revenue, which still included contributions before the sale of its Illawarra metallurgical coal and Cerro Matoso ferronickel operation, was 7 per cent higher at $US8.1b.

Net profit was 410 per cent higher at $US1.1b.

The board declared a final dividend of US5.4c a share.

“Strong operating performance coupled with commodity price tailwinds underpinned one of the best financial results in our history, with group underlying EBITDA increasing by 28 per cent to $US2.5b and underlying earnings increasing by 55 per cent to $1b,” Mr Daley said.

“Cannington and Sierra Gorda’s operating performance enabled the group to capture the benefit of higher prices across copper, zinc and silver, supporting increased earnings and cash flow from our base metals business.”

South32 last month revealed it would sell its aluminium assets - which include Worsley Alumina (86 per cent), Hillside Aluminium (100 per cent) and the Mineração Rio do Norte bauxite mine (33 per cent) - to US giant Alcoa for $US5.6b.

Mr Daley said the deal would simplify and strengthen the miner’s portfolio, “positioning South32 as a leading base metals focused company with high-margin assets and a pipeline of compelling growth options in copper, zinc and silver”.

The company expects to invest $US1b this financial year in Hermosa, its main growth project - azinc-lead-silver-manganese-copper mine in the US state of Arizona.

The cost of the development had originally been put at $US2.2b but that has since blown out to $US3.3b.

South32 ended the last financial year with $US283m in cash.