Australia's Megaport soars over 30%, tops ASX 200 on earnings beat

Megaport

30/01/2024 03:11

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Shares in Australia's Megaport Ltd
 MP1.AX  soared more than 30% on Tuesday to top the ASX 200
benchmark index, after the cloud network service provider
reported second-quarter operating earnings that beat market
estimates.
    The stock surged as much as 30.3% to A$12.740, its highest
level since April 2022, and biggest intra-day gain since
mid-July last year.
    Megaport was the top gainer in the ASX 200 benchmark index
 .AXJO  as at 0213 GMT, with more than 2.3 million shares having
changed hands - more than three times its monthly average
volumes.
    The Brisbane-based firm reported second-quarter operating
earnings of A$15.1 million ($9.98 million), compared with a
Visible Alpha consensus estimate of A$11.3 million, according to
Citi.
    Its quarterly revenue of A$48.6 million was 2% ahead of Citi
estimates. 
    "While KPIs (key performance indicators) continue to be
soft, this was expected and we continue to see upside to VA
consensus EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation,
and amortization) FY24e forecasts given the 1H beat," Citi
analysts wrote.
    "We expect the share price to outperform today due to the
FCF (free cash flow) and EBITDA (earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation, and amortization) beat."
    Megaport's shares are up 6.3% this year as of last close,
after advancing 45.8% in 2023.

($1 = 1.5124 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Aaditya Govind Rao in Bengaluru; Editing by
Rashmi Aich)
 ((Aaditya.GovindRao@thomsonreuters.com;))