Hot Stocks: SRG Global, DroneShield, Brightstar Resources

Wall Street surged on Tuesday as investors welcomed signs that a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran might hold, easing fears of a broader conflict. The Dow Jones climbed 1.19% to close at 43,089.02, while the S&P 500 rose 1.11%, nearing a 52-week high. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.43%, and the Nasdaq 100 reached a record close, up 1.53%. Gains were reinforced by a steep drop in oil prices—US crude fell 6% and Brent declined 6.1%—fueling a rally in airline stocks like United and Delta, both up over 2%. Tech also surged, with Broadcom jumping nearly 4% and Nvidia up 2.6%. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell struck a cautious tone in his testimony to Congress, saying the Fed would remain patient on rate cuts while monitoring inflationary pressure from tariffs.

ASX futures point to a modest rise, up 6 points to 8,541, following the strong lead from Wall Street. The Australian dollar firmed to US64.90¢, and bitcoin rose 2.1% to US$106,042. Gold slipped 1.3% to US$3,323.67 an ounce. Investors will focus on today’s release of monthly inflation data for May. NAB forecasts the CPI indicator will ease to 2.2% year-on-year from 2.4%, with this mid-quarter reading providing a fuller picture of service-sector price pressures. In corporate news, Xero (ASX:XRO) is in a trading halt after unveiling a US$3.9bn deal to acquire U.S. payments platform Melio—its largest acquisition to date.

SRG Global (ASX:SRG) has secured $850 million in new contracts across Australia and New Zealand with repeat, blue-chip clients. The work spans water (e.g., Seqwater and Hunter Water), energy (e.g., Origin, Genesis, BHP, Alcoa), industrial and resources (e.g., South32, Anglo American), and infrastructure (health, defence, education, commercial developments). Notable wins include long-term shutdown maintenance contracts, dam anchoring, hydro refurbishment, and new data centres. The contracts vary from immediate commencement to staged completion through 2026. Managing Director David Macgeorge highlighted SRG’s diversified growth trajectory and repeat-client strength.

DroneShield (ASX:DRO) has secured its largest-ever order: a $61.6 million contract package via a European reseller for handheld counterdrone systems and accessories. The deal, comprising three standalone follow-on contracts, exceeds the company’s total 2024 revenue of $57.5 million. Delivery is expected in Q3 2025, with payments across Q3 and Q4. The reseller has a track record of timely, professional execution, and this order reflects a significant scale-up from a previous $0.5m contract with the same customer. CEO Oleg Vornik noted that leading military customers are transitioning from trials to widespread rollout of DroneShield’s technology.

Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Paddington Gold Pty Ltd to process ore from its Lady Shenton deposit at Paddington’s CIL plant, 100km south of Menzies. The proposed Ore Purchase Agreement would cover 1.5–2.0 million tonnes over 30 months starting in April 2026. Lady Shenton has a resource estimate of 5.6Mt at 1.5g/t for 273,000oz of gold. Brightstar expects minimal capex due to use of third-party infrastructure and is targeting an early 2026 production start. A DFS for the Menzies and Laverton projects is due next week, and exploration drilling is ongoing at several other deposits.