The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is having a solid session on Thursday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.7% to 8,184.6 points.
Four ASX shares that are rising more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are pushing higher:
Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)
The Appen share price is up 7% to $1.92. Investors have been buying this artificial intelligence data services company's shares despite there being no news out of it. Though, it is worth noting that its shares were sold off over the past couple of sessions. For example, after closing at $2.10 on Monday, Appen's shares ended yesterday's session 14% lower at $1.80. Some investors may believe this created a buying opportunity. Especially with the company's operating performance showing signs of improvement. Though, there is always the danger of management taking advantage of its strong share price gains this year to raise money to shore up its balance sheet further. Appen's shares are up 210% year to date.
Brickworks Limited (ASX: BKW)
The Brickworks share price is up 6% to $28.19. This follows the release of the building products company's full year results for FY 2024. While on paper the results did not make great viewing, they were better than some analysts were expecting. Brickworks posted an 8% decline in total revenue to $1,089 million and an 80% decline in underlying EBITDA to $157 million. The latter was down 4% to $387 million if you exclude property revaluations and property sales, which turned negative in FY 2024.
Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN)
The Paladin Energy share price is up almost 7% to $11.36. Investors have been buying ASX uranium stocks this week after tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) turned to nuclear power to support its data centre needs. It signed a deal with Constellation Energy (NASDAQ: CEG), which will help resurrect the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Investors appear hopeful that other tech giants will follow suit. Paladin Energy's shares are now up 21% this week.
Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC)
The Whitehaven Coal share price is up 3% to $6.92. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Citi this morning. According to the note, the broker has upgraded the coal miner's shares to a buy rating with a $7.60 price target. This follows an update to its commodity price estimates following the announcement of Chinese stimulus measures.
