Why these 3 top ASX 200 stocks grabbed the Motley Fool's headlines this week

Numerous ASX 200 stocks competed for attention this week.

Bernd Struben

Author bio Bernd Struben earned his BA in economics from the University of Michigan in 1991, with post-graduate studies in environmental economics at the University of Connecticut. Over the years he’s written about and analysed the tourism industry in the Caribbean; Europe’s commercial real estate markets; and, since moving to Australia in 2010, global and Aussie share markets. Bernd studies geopolitical and macroeconomic trends, alongside sector and company specific data, to gauge what he believes could be tomorrow's best investments. In his free time, you might find Bernd at the beach with his family or working on his next science fiction novel. Areas of expertise Australian and global share markets Macroeconomic and geopolitical trends Real estate Education Economics, University of Michigan Favorite investment quote "The four most dangerous words in investing are: 'This time it's different." — Sir John Templeton

Published February 17, 2024 5:30 am AEDT

It was a memorable week for a number of S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) stocks as reporting season picked up speed.

Here's why these three companies led the Motley Fool's headline news this week.

A cool young man walking in a laneway holding a takeaway coffee in one hand and his phone in the other reacts with surprise as he reads the latest news on his mobile phone — Image source: Getty Images

Three ASX 200 stocks leaping into the Motley Fool's headlines

First up, we have mining giant BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP).

The biggest of the ASX 200 stocks grabbed the Motley Fool's headlines on Thursday after the miner got caught up in the fallout from plunging nickel prices.

This saw BHP announce an impairment of the carrying value of Nickel West along with West Musgrave (Western Australia Nickel).

The impairment for its Western Australia Nickel assets saw the carrying value drop by US$2.5 billion.

BHP also recognised an income statement charge of US$3.2 billion relating to the 2015 Samarco dam failure in Brazil.

The BHP share price closed down 1.7% on the day.

The second ASX 200 stock leading the Motley Fool's headlines this week is Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS).

Australia's biggest telco company reported its half-year results on Thursday.

Highlights included a 1.2% year-on-year increase in total income to $11.7 billion, and net profit after tax (NPAT) was up 11.5% to $1 billion. This saw Telstra declare a fully franked interim dividend of 9 cents per share, up 5.9% from the prior interim dividend.

While these are some solid results, they fell short of consensus expectations.

The Telstra share price closed down 2.3% on the day.

Which brings us to the third ASX 200 stock leaping into the Motley Fool's headlines this week: our nation's biggest bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA)

CBA announced its half-year results on Wednesday.

Among the highlights, CBA saw it operating income edge up 0.2% year on year to $13.65 billion. But with operating expenses ticking up by 4%, the big four bank's cash net profit after tax slipped 3% year on year to $5.02 billion.

And CBA pleased passive income investors with a fully franked interim dividend of $2.15 a share, up 2.4% from last year.

But with investors apparently concerned about falling net interest margins (NIMs), the CBA share price closed down 1.7% on Wednesday.

As of Friday's close, shares in the ASX 200 bank stock remain up around 14% over 12 months, not including the two dividend payouts.

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