In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to record a small gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is down 0.15% to 8,555.2 points.
Four ASX shares that are rising more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are climbing:
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DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO)
The DroneShield share price is up over 4% to $2.38. On Monday, this counter drone technology company announced three standalone contracts for its handheld and on the move counter drone systems. The contracts are worth a total of $9.7 million and were from a reseller distributing the systems to a defence end customer in a Latin American (LATAM) country. DroneShield's CEO, Oleg Vornik, said: "In 2025, DroneShield has successfully delivered products, capability, and training into the Latin American market. With a substantial pipeline, diversified over multiple countries and customers, DroneShield is anticipating further developments in 2025 in this region."
Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL)
The Medibank Private share price is up 4% to $5.25. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Morgan Stanley this morning. According to the note, the broker has upgraded the private health insurer's shares to an overweight rating with an improved price target of $5.57. Morgan Stanley believes that Medibank is well-placed to deliver a strong result in FY 2025. It notes that hospital claims are lower than expected, which should be good news for its margins.
Orthocell Ltd (ASX: OCC)
The Orthocell share price is up 6% to $1.24. Investors have been buying this regenerative medicine company's shares after it reported record quarterly revenue. Orthocell posted a 22.8% increase in revenue to a record of $2.73 million for the fourth quarter. Importantly, this doesn't include any sales in the US market, which has just approved its Remplir product. Remplir is a collagen wrap used in nerve repair surgery to assist surgeons to improve outcomes in the repair and regeneration of damaged nerves.
Santana Minerals Ltd (ASX: SMI)
The Santana Minerals share price is up over 3% to 53.7 cents. The catalyst for this has been the release of the gold developer's updated pre-feasibility study for the Bendigo-Ophir project near Queenstown in New Zealand. The updated study estimates that it could generate profit before tax of A$3.5 billion at the current gold price or A$1.9 billion at base-case. The company also highlights that it has an "all-in-Sustaining Cost (AISC) of A$1,842/oz at current gold price (A$1,660/oz at base case)."
