In afternoon trade the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has dropped into the red and is down slightly at 5,940 points.
Four shares that have not let that hold them back are listed below. Here's why they have climbed higher:
The A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price has followed up on yesterday's stellar gain with a 7% move higher to $12.12. At one stage the dairy company's shares were up as much as 22% to an all-time high of $13.78 before profit-taking started to weigh them down. The catalyst for this is likely to have been a broker note out of Citi which revealed that its analysts had retained their buy rating and increased their price target to $14.00.
The Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price has jumped 11% to $55.50. This morning the travel agent announced a net profit of $102 million on revenues of $1,370 million. This was an increase of 37% and 5%, respectively, on the prior corresponding period. Management also upgraded its full-year profit before tax guidance to between $360 million and $385 million, from $350 million to $380 million previously.
The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price has soared 6.5% higher to $5.61 after announcing a record half-year profit. For the six months ended December 31, Qantas delivered a 15% increase in underlying first-half profit before tax of $976 million. The key drivers of this growth were its Qantas Domestic and Jetstar segments. These two segments delivered double digit earnings growth during the period.
The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price has surged 16% to $11.98 following the release of a solid first-half result. The online travel agent achieved sales of $131.9 million and EBITDA from continuing operations of $41 million. This was a 52% and 63% increase, respectively, on the prior corresponding period. This puts the company on track to beat its FY 2018 guidance of more than $3 billion in TTV and EBITDA of at least $80 million.
