Hot Stocks: Immutep, Xero, GrainCorp

Wall Street extended its rally on Wednesday as easing US–China trade tensions buoyed investor sentiment for a third straight session. The S&P 500 closed 0.10% higher at 5,892.58, while the Nasdaq gained 0.72%, led by tech stocks, and the Dow Jones slipped 0.21%.

Nvidia surged over 4% after confirming plans to supply 18,000 AI chips to Saudi Arabia’s Humain initiative, while AMD jumped 4.68% on news of a US$6bn buyback and a US$10bn partnership also linked to Saudi-backed projects. Boeing shares inched up after securing a record US$96bn aircraft order from Qatar Airways.

GrainCorp posted a strong 1H25 result, with underlying EBITDA rising 23% to $202m and underlying NPAT up 21% to $69m. The company upgraded full-year guidance to EBITDA of $285–325m and NPAT of $65–95m. The result was underpinned by a large east coast harvest, particularly in Queensland and northern NSW. The agribusiness segment grew strongly, supported by chickpea and canola seed exports. Nutrition and Energy EBITDA held steady, with record canola crush volumes but weaker margins. GrainCorp declared a fully franked 24c interim dividend and expanded its share buyback to $75m.

Immutep announced positive interim data from its INSIGHT-003 trial combining its lead immunotherapy candidate, efti, with KEYTRUDA and chemotherapy for first-line non-small cell lung cancer. The combination achieved a 60.8% overall response rate and 90.2% disease control rate. Remarkably, patients with low or no PD-L1 expression—typically a challenging subgroup—also showed strong responses. The trial supports the company’s pivotal TACTI-004 program and underscores efti’s potential as a new standard of care. No new safety concerns were reported.

Xero delivered FY25 revenue growth of 23% to NZ$2.1bn and a 30% increase in NPAT to NZ$228m, achieving a Rule of 40 result of 44.3%. Free cash flow grew 48% to NZ$507m. Average revenue per user rose 15% to NZ$45.08, aided by price increases and improved product mix. Subscriber growth excluding removed idle accounts was 414,000. Strategic highlights included enhancements across accounting, payroll, and payments, plus the rollout of Xero’s AI assistant “JAX.” Xero reiterated its long-term ambition to double its business while maintaining strong profitability.