Hot Stocks: Top ASX Companies that Lit Up the Market in the Past Week

Going by the trends of the previous week, on 16th February, Friday; the ASX 200 performed the best among all the indices of the ASX (Australian Stock Exchange). The small caps indices comprising Australia’s top 200 companies closed at 7,658.3 points, at a 0.45% high, between 12th February and 16th February. Along with that, individual companies from sectors such as  Minerals, Financials, and Technology did relatively well. These companies' stock prices were up on a significant level. Companies like Way 2 Vat from the fintech sector, and ARK Mines from the Minerals sector featured at the top as far as incrementing stock prices are concerned. 

Weekly Wrap: Top Performing Stocks in Australian Markets

If ASX 200 indices is bumping up Australian markets, many individual companies are doing their part as well. The top performers are a mixed bag here, it includes companies for the basic materials sector, financial sector, and technology sector that saw price elevation in stocks. Here is the list:

1. Way 2 Vat Ltd

Way 2 VAT (ASX: W2V) is a global FinTech platform that helps you to lodge claims and return queries through a digital platform on your VAT (Value Added Tax) and GST(Goods and Services Tax). 340 enterprises around the world use it. Way 2 VAT stock prices have been incrementing rapidly, part of the reason might be the convertible notes that they would issue to key stakeholders as per shareholders' request which includes Thorne Investment group. 

The money raised will be used for sales and marketing of Way 2 Vat digital resources and building a new ‘AI-AP Compliance product’, also known as the AI-enabled automated auditing product. The press release about the product has been included below.

Past week Way 2 Vat saw a good run in the markets. They are continuing the trend of growing in double digits in the ASX market. The stock prices of the company increased by 142.15% last week, the yearly growth in stock price has been 86.68%. The market cap of Way 2 Vat stands at A$18.90 million. The per share price of the company traded at A$0.032 on 20th February, on Tuesday.

Way 2 VAT Image from their LinkedIn page

(Source: www.linkedin.com)

2.ARK Mines Pvt Ltd 

ARK Mines PVT LTD (ASX: AHK) is a global mineral exploration company, particularly gold. The company has been going through massive development as they have found rare earth minerals like REE and heavy REE, Titanium, and Zirconia. ARK was performing an air drilling program at the Sandy Mitchell Project when they discovered an assay having rare earth mineral deposits. ARK Mines has also signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Currumbin Minerals in the supply and delivery of heavy mineral sands. Here is an official letter regarding ARK Minerals’s MOU.

ARK Mines traded with quite a bit of flair last week. The company’s stock prices grew by 21.21% on previous week, and every year until last week it grew by 5.26%. The stock prices on average have been static and the daily average is between $0.17- $0.20. The market cap of ARK Mines is worth A$11.09 million. The last traded price of a single stock of the company was A$0.20 as of 20th February.

ARK Mines Logo

(Source: https://arkmines.com)

3.Patagonia Lithium Ltd

Patagonia Lithium Ltd (ASX: PL3) is an Australian mining and exploration company that engages in lithium, diamonds, and rare earth materials. It has three prospective projects to excavate lithium they are undertaking in Argentina, one in Salta province and the other two in Jujury Provinces. 

The company has had many successes in attaining these licenses including in Brazil where they have completed 42,176 applications to dig out high-grade Niobium and clay-hosted rare earths and lithium in pegmatites. A new non-executive director named Richard Anthon also joined the company on 20/02/2024. The official announcement has been included below via an image.

With these expansion trends, Patagonia is doing amazingly well in the stock markets. The previous week, the company grew its stock prices by 47.33%. The company has lodged as per estimates 30.77% rise in stock prices every month. The company projects a negative growth rate of 22% every year, but it will soon change once it excavates high-grade minerals. The market cap of Patagonia Lithium is A$7.37 million. The closing price of a single stock in the company costs A$0.17 on 20th February. 

Patagonia Lithium logo

(Source: www.linkedin.com)

4. Lachlan Star Ltd

Lachlan Star Ltd (ASX: LSA) is a mineral exploration international company and currently, they are working on a Magnesite site in Queensland, Australia. The weekly numbers in their share prices provide a ray of hope for Lachlan since the company has been seeing a dip every coming year. The company is also progressing with its diamond drilling project in the Moora and Koojan areas. Here is a link to full report.

Last week the company’s stock prices grew by 47.83%. The company’s attempts to get newer projects and work in Australia have put up a good monthly growth rate in their stock price at A$0.17. The market cap of Lachlan Star is A$11.42 million. The last traded price of a single stock in the company was A$ 0.17, as registered on 20th February.

Logo of Lachlan Star

(Source: https://lachlanstar.com/)

5. Bravura Solutions Ltd

Bravura Solutions Ltd (ASX: BVS) is a tech company that allows specialized maintenance of management and administrative software applications. It also offers consulting services on wealth management and funds administration. Recently Bravura launched their 1H24 report, which is a half-year report up till December 2023. 

The company has achieved significant milestones which include Gross Revenue of $12.6million which is up by 7% compared to 1H23. The contracted recurring revenue has increased to $7.2 million. Similarly, the adjusted net profit of the company is also up by $12.6 million. Here is a brief press release on the report.:

Bravura Solutions' share prices have been constantly green. Its weekly share prices have increased by 31.05% and every year incrementing at 43.93%. The average price of the company’s stock is between A$1.25- A$1.215. The market cap of Bravura Solutions is A$564.93 million. The company traded at A$1.25 on each stock on 20th February. 

Logo of Bravura Solutions

(Source: https://www.bravurasolutions.com/)

Tech Companies Outperform Other Sectors Last  Week

1. Altium

Altium stocks (ASX: ALU) showed an increase of 27.1% in share price the previous week. This happened in the wake of the company’s takeover by the Japanese Reneseas Corporation. The market cap of Altium is $8.65 billion. The company’s last per stock price has been traded in markets at A$65.60 on 20th February. 

2. Ansarada Group

Ansarada Group (ASX: AND) followed the same trajectory as Altium in the previous week. US company Datasite took the company in its overarching pall which pushed the price per share to A$2.41. The company’s market cap stands at A$215.31 million. Even the last traded price of a share of the company was A$2.41 on 20 February. 

3.Audinate Group

Audinate Group (ASX: AD8) a documents management and data company, saw a 15% increment in their stock prices on the closing day of the week. The company also saw a 137% increase in its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). The market cap of Audinate was A$ 1.69 billion. The per-share price was A$20.84 on 20th February. 

List of Companies having Audinate’s Dante Technology
(Source: https://www.audinate.com/)

4.Other tech performers

Among larger tech companies, Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) and Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT) saw an increase of 4.3% and 4% respectively to A$117.50 and A$15.03 per share. The largest in the ASX 200 lists of Tech, Wisetech Global Limited (ASX: WTC) rose by 2.47% to A$80.01 the previous week.

52-Week High and Low Trends

If we look at the 52-week high and 52-week low trends by the previous week we see that the Financial sector looks more stable and consistent in comparison to other sectors. We also see the Discretionary sector closing the gap. A long list of new companies have also sprung up in highs which includes companies like, Ventia Services (ASX: VTP) Downer EDI(ASX: DOW) Johns Lyng Group (ASX: JLG). 

Week’s Top Financial Stocks

Photo of ANZ bank

(Source: https://www.audinate.com/ )

1.ANZ Group Holdings 

ANZ Holdings (ASX: ANZ) maintained a sustainable hike of 2.7% until 16th Feb per share price, but after markets opened on 19th Feb, the hike increased to 2.9%. As per present estimates, the price fluctuation in a day of this stock is between A$28.12-A$28.52. 

ANZ Holdings has been gaining a lot of spotlight after they announced in July 2022 that they will acquire the banking wing of Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) for A$4.9 billion. However, the  Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) stopped this, citing that favoring this merger would create an oligopoly type of market. Hearing this the company has filed a complaint citing the reassessment of the Tribunal's decision.

The market cap of ANZ Holdings is A$84.51 billion. The last traded price of a single stock of the company was $28.10 on 20th February.

2.National Australian Bank 

National Australian Bank (ASX: NAB) showed a positive growth trajectory in share prices increasing by 2.2% to A$33.07 the previous week. NAB is known for wealth management and financial management in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the UK, and many Asian countries. The market cap of NAB is A$104.50 billion. The last trade price of the company’s shares was $33.61 on 20th February. 

3.Pinnacle Investment Management Group 

One company that stood out in the Australian Equity Markets is Pinnacle Management (ASX: PNI) which grew by 1.66% the previous week. The market cap of the company is A$2.22 billion. The last traded price of a single stock of the company was A$10.92 on 20th February.

Conclusion

Last week many developments occurred in the Australian stock markets. Companies from Basic Materials mainly Mining, Financials, and Tech domains reigned supreme in the stock market. ASX 200 was the top growing indice at the ASX last week. We have mentioned all the relevant details of the companies and information about their growth trajectories in share prices.