With only a few hours of trade left in the week, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 1.5% since last Friday's close, but don't blame these three rocketing ASX 200 stocks.
Here's what's been stoking investor interest.
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Austal Ltd (ASX: ASB)
The first ASX 200 stock storming higher in this week's slumping market is Aussie ship builder Austal.
At the time of writing, Austal shares are changing hands for $4.13 apiece, up 7.6% since last Thursday, when the stock entered a trading halt.
Austal shares then leapt 17.5% on Tuesday after exiting that trading halt. Investors were snapping up shares in the ship builder after it announced receiving a non-binding, conditional offer from Hanwha Defence USA to acquire its Austal USA segment for US$1.05 billion to US$1.2 billion.
That could be a good deal for shareholders, with Austral reporting an unaudited FY 2026 earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) loss of around $113 million. Management noted that this loss was primarily due to non-cash provisions at Austal USA, while its Australasian business is expected to post a positive EBIT of around $62 million.
Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG)
Also racing ahead of the market's losing streak this week is Aussie energy provider Origin Energy.
At the time of writing, Origin Energy shares are trading for $12.06 each, which sees this ASX 200 stock up 11.5% since last Friday's close.
Origin shares got a welcome boost after the company reported its FY 2026 results on Thursday.
The company reported underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $3.22 billion, down 5.5% from FY 2025.
However, the company's adjusted Free Cash Flow increased by $867 million to $2.07 billion.
And on the bottom line, Origin achieved an underlying profit of $1.16 billion, up 22.2% year on year.
Which brings us to…
ASX 200 stock Cleanaway Waste Management Ltd (ASX: CWY)
The best-performing ASX 200 stock on my list for this week is Cleanaway Waste Management.
Shares in the waste management and environmental services company are currently trading for $2.73 apiece, up 14.5% since last week's close.
Cleanaway shares leapt 15.2% on Thursday after the company reported it had received a conditional, non-binding indicative proposal from EQT Infrastructure to acquire 100% of its shares.
With EQT offering $3.13 cash per share, investors were quick to reach for their buy buttons.
The company noted:
The Cleanaway board has determined that it is in the best interests of Cleanaway shareholders to provide EQT Infrastructure with the opportunity to undertake up to 9 weeks exclusive due diligence and to negotiate a scheme implementation deed (SID) to agree a binding transaction.
