The August earnings season is upon us and there are already some ASX shares that are surprising investors.
Here are a few of my favourites that I've been watching in the last week and a half.
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Aurizon and 2 more ASX shares surprising investors
Right at the top of my list is rail freight operator Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ).
Aurizon is responsible for moving coal, iron ore, agricultural freight and more across the country.
The ASX 200 share surged 3.8% higher on Monday after lifting annual profits. In fact, Aurizon's underlying net profit after tax (NPAT) climbed 12% higher to $531 million.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rocketed 102% while statutory NPAT jumped 28% to $605 million.
On top of that, the Aussie rail freight group is returning funds to shareholders with a $300 million buyback program in FY21.
Aurizon isn't the only ASX share that has surprised this month.
The Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE) share price surged 4.7% on Tuesday as full-year earnings per unit remained steady.
The real estate investment trust's (REIT) weighted average lease expiry (WALE) increased 28.3% to 12.7 years while gross asset values jumped 4.4% to $1.3 billion.
Positively, gearing was low at 16.4% with a property portfolio yield of 6.2%.
That was a good result given the coronavirus pandemic is looming over the real estate sector. Investors were quick to buy into the Aussie REIT in early trade following the FY20 result.
Finally, James Hardie Industries plc (ASX: JHX) was one that you may have missed.
The James Hardie share price jumped 6.8% higher on Tuesday after the release of its first-quarter earnings.
James Hardie is a global building materials company and the largest global manufacturer of fibre cement products.
The ASX share was in high demand yesterday as EBITDA remained flat on Q1 2019 numbers.
Operating cash flow surged 35% higher to US$89.3 million despite net profit plummeting 89% lower.
Investors were clearly impressed by the result with the ASX industrials share leading the ASX 200 winners list on Tuesday.
