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 up a fraction to 8,971.3 points.
Four ASX shares that are rising more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are ending the week on a high:
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Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD)
The Elders share price is up 2.5% to $7.44. This morning, analysts at Bell Potter retained their buy rating and $9.45 price target on this agribusiness company's shares. This was in response to news that the ACCC will not block its acquisition of Delta Agribusiness. It said: "The closing of the Delta transaction is clearly a positive development, given the elongated acquisition timeline and in isolation is expected to be ~10% EPS accretive on a PF25e basis. In addition, we see encouraging indicators heading into FY26e, with crop input prices (fertiliser and glyphosate tech), livestock prices (cattle, lamb and mutton) and wool prices all demonstrating double digit YOY gains."
Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL)
The Netwealth Group share price is up 5% to $32.45. This is despite Bell Potter cutting its valuation of the investment platform provider's shares this morning. In response to its quarterly update, the broker retained its hold rating with a trimmed price target of $30.00. It said: "We have marked-to-market FUA for the update and upgraded our EPS forecasts +2%. There are no other model changes. We think there is a pretty clear pathway for +20% revenue growth and estimate free cash margins of 30% which would present a similar environment to FY22-24 where the company traded closer to 30x forward EBITDA."
Orthocell Ltd (ASX: OCC)
The Orthocell share price is up 6% to $1.53. This follows the release of the regenerative medicine company's quarterly update. Orthocell reported revenue of $3 million for the three months, which is up 11% quarter on quarter. And while it still recorded an operating cash outflow of $3 million, its balance sheet remains strong with $27 million in cash reserves. Orthocell's CEO, Paul Anderson, said: "We have continued to build strong commercial momentum in the September quarter with another record quarter of sales revenue delivered primarily from Remplir sales in our existing markets in Australia and Singapore."
Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR)
The Syrah Resources share price is up 18% to 42.5 cents. This has been driven by news that China is putting export controls on graphite. The team at Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) believes this is a re-rating catalyst and upgraded Syrah's shares to an outperform rating with a 70 cents price target (from 30 cents). It said: "We believe this restriction is a material positive event for SYR as it is uniquely positioned, boasting one of the world's largest natural graphite operations with production capacity of ~350ktpa and an 11.25ktpa AAM Vidalia facility that is ramping up. We see this as a re-rating event that is comparable to LYC and MP Materials."
