It's been a decent Thursday session for ASX shares so far today. At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) has risen by a tentative 0.15% to just over 8,470 points. But two ASX 300 shares are doing far better than that today. Let's dig into why.
Those two ASX 300 shares are Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG) and none other than the ASX itself – ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX).
At present, Domain shares are up a healthy 6.23% at $2.90 each. That's after closing at $2.73 yesterday and opening at $2.98 this morning.
Meanwhile, ASX stock is doing even better. ASX shares are currently up 7.82% at $68.14 each after closing at $63.20 yesterday and opening at $64.80 this morning.
So, what's going on with these ASX 300 shares this Thursday?
Why are these two ASX 300 shares up 6% or more today?
Well, it's an answer you're going to see a lot of this month – these two ASX 300 shares have just reported their latest half-year earnings to the market.
Let's start with Domain.
This morning, Domain unveiled its latest report card, covering the six months to 31 December 2024.
The ASX 300 property classifieds share revealed that it enjoyed $217.2 million in revenues over the period, a 7.4% rise over the same period in 2023.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 13.8% to $77.8 million, while earnings per share (EPS) rocketed 28.3% to 5.2 cents. This helped net profits after tax (NPAT) to jump 28.3% to $33.1 million.
Investors will enjoy an interim dividend worth 2 cents per share, fully franked, from these results, which is in line with last year's interim payout.
Clearly, ASX 300 investors have given their tick of approval to these results.
But what about ASX?
Well, the stock market operator and ASX 300 share also revealed earnings for the half-year ended 31 December.
In this case, ASX's operating revenues for the period came in at $541.9 million, a 5.9% rise over the same period last year.
Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were $253.7 million, a 10.1% year-on-year rise. On an EPS basis, ASX brought in an underlying 130.9 cents per share, and 125.6 cents on a statutory basis.
That helped the company report an underlying NPAT of $253.7 million for the period, a rise worth 10.1%. That translates to a statutory NPAT of $243.5 million, up 5.6%.
ASX 300 investors were also treated to a dividend hike. Last year's interim dividend from this company was 101.2 cents per share. This year, investors will get a 9.9% boost with an interim dividend worth 111.2 cents per share, fully franked.
Foolish takeaway
So investors clearly approve of the earnings results that these two ASX 300 shares have dropped today, judging by their strong share price reactions. Another two stocks down, countless more earnings reports to go.
