The S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) is down 0.3% in late morning trade today, but that's not holding back this rocketing ASX 300 stock.
The high-flying company in question is retailer Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH), whose store brands incorporate Adairs, Focus on Furniture, and online shop Mocka.
Adairs shares closed yesterday at $2.32. At the time of writing on Thursday, shares are changing hands for $2.63 apiece, up a whopping 13.2%.
As you can see on the chart above, that puts the ASX 300 stock up 112% since this time last year.
And that doesn't include the 12 cents a share in fully franked dividends Adairs paid out over the full year. The stock currently trades on a trailing dividend yield of 4.6%.
Here's what's piquing ASX investor interest today.
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ASX 300 stock leaps on trading update
The Adairs share price is flying higher today after the company released a trading update ahead of tomorrow's annual general meeting (AGM). The update covers the first 16 weeks of FY 2025 through to 20 October.
The ASX 300 stock is getting a boost with the retailer reporting a 4.8% year on year increase in its real-time unaudited sales for the 16-week period.
Sales at Adairs were up 8.6%, while Mocka sales were up 0.4%. Focus on Furniture dragged on the results, with sales down 3.7% compared to the same period last year.
Investors will also have noted that the gross margin across Adairs was up 0.5% from last year. And that's after including the negative impact of adverse currency shifts and the recent increase in import container rates.
Looking at what could impact the ASX 300 stock in the months ahead, management said they remain optimistic on FY 2025 "given trade to date and ongoing work across areas such as gross margin management, sales conversion and CODB (cost of doing business) discipline".
The company noted that the December quarter is a "key retail promotional period". In the lead-up to Christmas, sales events will include the Adairs Linen Lover Event, Black Friday, and, of course, Christmas.
Management said they still expect to deliver on their target to open six new Adairs stores in FY 2025. Due to development delays, they now expect to open two new Focus on Furniture stores rather than the initial target of three.
The ASX 300 stock forecasts capital expenditure for FY 2025 in the range of $13 million to $15 million.
