Qantas profit disappoints, cars, grain support Qube, ASX down

Another bumper day of profit announcements wasn’t enough to send the S&P/ASX200 higher on Thursday, with the materials sector, down 1.6 per cent, ultimately pushing the market down 0.4 per cent. The falling iron ore price hit the likes of BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), but the more defensive healthcare and utilities sectors, up 1.1 and 1.2 per cent respectively, both outperformed. Qantas (ASX:QAN) was a major detractor, with shares falling by more than 6.8 per cent despite the company delivering a tripling of revenue to $9.9 billion and a massive turnaround in profitability from a loss of $1.2 billion to a profit of $1.42 billion for the half. The key driver of the weaker result was a surge in capital expenditure related to the fleet. It was the opposite story for Qube Holdings (ASX:QUB) which gained 8.7 per cent after the company delivered a near doubling of profit to $11 million on a 23 per cent jump in revenue. The driver was surging demand for grain and vehicles, with congestion in the Patrick terminals the only challenge.

Star losses balloon, capital raising called, Ramsay surgeries return, Bega dumped

Shares in Star Entertainment (ASX:SGR) remain in a trading halt after the company announced an $800 million capital raising as it seeks to overcome months of legal activity and government reviews. The $800 million will be raised at $1.20 per share, 20 per cent lower than the current share price, and primarily utilised to pay back debt to ensure the company remains within its covenants. Private healthcare operator Ramsay (ASX:RHC) is at the alternate end of the spectrum, with shares gaining 3 per cent after the company delivered a 22 per cent increase in profit to $194 million. The driver was the reversal of lockdown restrictions and associated costs in the UK and Australia, along with an 11 per cent increase in revenue. The dividend was reinstated at 50 cents per share. Bega (ASX:BGA) was the worst performing company, dropping 7.8 per cent, after the company reported a 74 per fall in net profit due to a lag in the ability to pass on farm gate milk prices.

Nasdaq rallies as NVIDIA jumps, Alibaba surprises, jobless claims fall

All three benchmarks managed to push higher in the US overnight, spurred on by a better than expected result from chipmaker NVIDIA (NYSE:NVDA). The Nasdaq gained 0.7 per cent, the S&P500, 0.5 and the Dow Jones 0.3, following news that the US economy grew by a slower pace of 2.7 per cent to finish the year. Shares in NVIDIA were more than 14 per cent higher after management announced its AI offerings would be available in cloud computing software produced by Microsoft (NYSE:MSFT) and Oracle (NYSE:ORCL). More broadly, inventory issues are beginning to ease while revenue fell less than expected. Americans filing for jobless claims fell by just 3,000 in more signs the economy is doing better than expected. Shares in Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) were slightly lower after the company highlighted the benefits of the end of COVID-19 restrictions, with a near doubling of profit for the quarter. Cloud revenue once again came in better than expected.