Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares are racing higher today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gold stock closed yesterday trading for $18.22. In morning trade on Thursday, shares are changing hands for 18.89 apiece, up 3.7%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is up 0.5 at this same time.
This outperformance follows the release of Northern Star's results for the financial year ended 30 June (FY 2025).
Here's what's grabbing ASX investor interest.
Image source: Getty Images
Northern Star shares surge on strong growth
Investors are bidding up Northern Star shares after the company reported record underlying free cash flow of $536 million. That's up 16% from FY 2024.
In other strong growth metrics, underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at $3.5 billion, up 60% year on year.
And underlying net profit after tax of $1.4 billion was up a whopping 105%.
FY 2025 revenue increased by 30% year on year to $6.4 billion. This was driven by a 29% increase in Northern Star's average realised gold price to $3,922 per ounce.
The miner sold 1.63 million ounces of gold over the 12 months, up 1% from the prior year.
Likely putting a bit of brake on Northern Star shares gains today, the company's costs were also up, with cost of sales increasing 11% to $4.1 billion.
And non-cash impairments of $136 million – recognised in respect of exploration and evaluation assets – were up 97% from FY 2024.
On the passive income front, management declared a final fully franked dividend of 30 cents per share, up 20% from last year's final dividend. If you want to grab that payout, you'll need to own shares at market close on 1 September. Northern Star shares trade ex-dividend on 2 September.
In other big news, the year also saw the ASX 200 miner complete its acquisition of Aussie gold miner De Grey Mining.
Northern Star ended the financial year with net cash of $1.0 billion and liquidity of $3.4 billion.
What did management say?
Commenting on the results helping lift Northern Star shares today, managing director Stuart Tonkin said, "The company has delivered another record-breaking financial performance on the back of a dedicated team effort in a favourable gold price environment."
Tonkin added:
EBITDA and ROCE metrics have shown consistent improvement over the last three years, while our investment grade balance sheet remains strong and in a net cash position, notwithstanding the substantial capital investment in growth projects such as the Fimiston Mill Expansion at KCGM.
What's next for Northern Star shares?
Looking to what could impact Northern Star shares in the year ahead, the company reiterated guidance from July for FY 2026 gold sold to be in the range of 1.70 million to 1.85 million ounces.
All-in sustaining cost (AISC) is forecast to be in the range of $2,300 to $2,700 per ounce.
And management expects exploration expenditure in FY 2026 to be approximately $225 million.
According to Tonkin:
Looking ahead, our focus remains on unlocking the full value of our production centres and advancing the newly acquired Hemi project, which aligns with both our portfolio and purpose to responsibly deliver superior returns for shareholders.
With today's intraday gains factored in, Northern Star shares are up 26.6% since this time last year.
