In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record another solid gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.5% to 7,816.4 points.
Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are falling:
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Actinogen Medical Ltd (ASX: ACW)
The Actinogen Medical share price is down 54% to 3.5 cents. Investors have been selling this biotechnology company's shares following the release of phase 2a trial topline results from its XanaCIDD trial. This trial was testing its Xanamem product in patients with cognitive dysfunction and major depressive disorder (MDD). While the company achieved clinically meaningful and persistent improvement in depression measured by the key secondary endpoint of MADRS, it failed with its primary endpoint of improving the "attention composite." Management has blamed this failure on an unexpectedly large improvement in the placebo group.
Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ)
The Aurizon share price is down 7.5% to $3.35. This has been driven by the release of the rail freight operator's full year results this morning. Aurizon deliver a solid result on paper. Its revenue was up 9% to $3.8 billion and its underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 14% to $1.6 billion. This allowed it to declare a final dividend of 7.3 cents per share, which lifted its total dividend to 17 cents per share for FY 2024. This is up 13% year over year. However, investors may have been disappointed with its guidance. Management is guiding to group EBITDA in a range of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion. The low end would be flat year on year.
Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT)
The Beach Energy share price is down 11% to $1.27. This follows the release of the energy company's full year results. Beach reported a 9% increase in sales revenue to $1.8 billion but an 11% decline in underlying net profit to $341 million. Also catching the eye was an update on its oil reserves. Management advised that it has completed an audited 2P reserves revision at its Enterprise field, resulting in a reduction of 11.5 MMboe. Its CEO, Brett Woods, said: "Disappointingly, over recent weeks we have observed pressure decline at Enterprise which is consistent with a smaller reservoir than originally estimated. We have moved rapidly to assess the impact."
PYC Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: PYC)
The PYC Therapeutics share price is down 4.5% to 10.5 cents. This morning, this clinical-stage biotechnology company released a further update on its drug candidate, VP-001, which is currently progressing through multiple concurrent clinical trials in patients with a blinding eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa type 11 (RP11). Management revealed that two out of three RP11 patients in a recent cohort had enhanced retinal sensitivity across the entire macula at three months of follow up when compared to baseline. Investors may have been looking for stronger results.
