The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is back on form and charging higher on Wednesday. In afternoon trade, the benchmark index is up 0.6% to 8,409.3 points.
Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are falling:
GQG Partners Inc (ASX: GQG)
The GQG Partners share price is down 4% to $2.20. This fund manager's shares have been bouncing around in recent sessions due to concerns over its investments in the Adani Group. One leading broker that remains positive is Goldman Sachs. It recently held firm with its buy rating and $3.00 price target on its shares. It said: "[A] 10-50% drop in the value of Adani assets would lead to a -1.3% to -6.6% impact on FY25E NPAT. Such moves would imply the sell-off has been overdone with the stock now trading at ~8.5x FY25 consensus earnings (albeit on unchanged earnings) v historical average of ~11x."
Novonix Ltd (ASX: NVX)
The Novonix share price is down 20% to 77.2 cents. This has been driven by the completion of the battery materials technology company's institutional placement this morning. According to the release, Novonix has raised $44.4 million through a fully underwritten placement of new shares to institutional and sophisticated investors at an offer price of 60 cents per new share. This represents a sizeable discount of approximately 38% to its last close price. Management said: "This funding will be used to achieve 3,000 tonnes per annum of production capacity at our Riverside facility in 2025 and enable continued access of our Department of Energy's Office of Manufacturing & Energy Supply Chains grant of up to US$100 million."
Silex Systems Ltd (ASX: SLX)
The Silex Systems share price is down 4% to $5.73. This morning, this laser enrichment technology company announced that Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) has acquired a 665-acre parcel of land for the planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) in Kentucky. GLE is the exclusive licensee of the third-generation laser-based SILEX uranium enrichment technology. Silex is paying for 51% of the cost of the acquisition. However, the terms of the site acquisition are confidential.
Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd (ASX: VUL)
The Vulcan Energy share price is down almost 8% to $7.50. Although the lithium developer has announced some board changes today, this decline seems unlikely to have been caused by them. Instead, the weakness could be from profit taking after strong gains recently. For example, even after today's gain, Vulcan Energy's shares are up over 40% since the start of the month. And on a 12-month basis, they are up a remarkable 200%+ despite the lithium industry downturn.
