In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a solid gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.35% to 7,438.9 points.
Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most are listed below. Here's why they are racing higher:
AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP)
The AMP share price is up 3.5% to $1.16. Investors have been buying the financial services company's shares following the release of its third quarter update. According to the release, the AMP Capital business saw its assets under management (AUM) fall by $7.3 billion. However, this was largely due to the previously announced exit of the NZ wealth management (NZWM) mandate of $9.2 billion. Positively, average Australian Wealth Management AUM increased $3.7 billion to $132.4 billion.
Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)
The Aristocrat Leisure share price is up 4.5% to $47.85. Investors have been buying the gaming technology company's shares following the successful completion of the institutional component of its $1.3 billion entitlement offer. The company also revealed that a bookbuild for institutional entitlement offer shortfall shares cleared at a price of $47.10 per new share. This represents a premium of $5.25 to the offer price and a 2.8% premium to the Aristocrat share price prior to its trading halt. Aristocrat is raising funds to acquire London-listed leading global online gambling software and content supplier, Playtech, for $5 billion.
Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN)
The Brainchip share price is up 9% to 48.5 cents. This follows the release of a few announcements by the artificial technology company. One of those reveals that it has now started to take orders for its Akida AI Processor Development Kits. Though, it is unclear if any orders have been received. In addition, the company was granted a patent in the US. The patent is for spontaneous machine learning and feature extraction.
Healius Ltd (ASX: HLS)
The Healius share price is up 7% to $4.87. This follows the release of a first quarter update which revealed explosive sales and earnings growth thanks to strong demand for COVID-19 testing. Healius advised that its first quarter revenue increased 43.7% to $689.9 million and its underlying EBIT grew 159% to $201.9 million. The company revealed it was averaging 40,000 COVID tests per working day during the period.
